


Better Days // 좋은 날

by WheeinOrOut



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21599986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WheeinOrOut/pseuds/WheeinOrOut
Summary: Wheein hasn't been herself lately, and Hwasa has noticed. After a drunken night reveals more than she ever could have imagined, Hwasa must help Wheein navigate through unwanted feelings, hidden secrets and being in a band with someone she loves.
Relationships: Ahn Hyejin | Hwasa/Jung Wheein, Jung Wheein/Kim Yongsun | Solar
Comments: 10
Kudos: 99





	1. The Chaos

"Wheein? Are you okay?" Hwasa asked, her voice low as they bowed their goodbyes to the last interviewer of the day. The girls were in the midst of the chaos of their latest comeback, and while each of them were utterly burnt out and tired, Wheein had been unusually quiet for the past few days, and Hwasa has of course noticed.

Wheein shrugged slightly and offered Hwasa a simple "yeah" in response. Hwasa frowned. She knew the girl next to her better than anyone, and if it weren't for her other members nearby and their manager being in the room, the maknae would have confronted her friend then and there. She could tell when Wheein was trying to hide something from her, not that it happened often, but Hwasa knew the signs of her friend not wanting to burden other people with her problems. It had happened last year too, during the height of their Four Seasons Tour, and resulted in a tearful admittance from her friend that she was battling with depression. Ever since, Hwasa had made it her duty to be more aware of her friend's emotions and make sure that she was doing okay, vowing that she wouldn't let her get swept away in the blur of fame and pressure.

"Ready to go?" Solar asked her members, standing from the sofa where they had all squished together for the interview, and offered a hand to Moonbyul, pulling her up too. Wheein nodded, and Hwasa sighed with uneasiness as she followed the girls from the room and into the two cars waiting outside. It was typical of Hwasa and Wheein to share one car while their unnies took the other as the pairs of best friends happened to live on opposite sides of the city. Hwasa waved a goodbye to her other members before preparing herself for the conversation she needed to have with Wheein.

"Jung Wheein. Tell me what's wrong," Hwasa said as she climbed into the back seat with her friend, not minding that it would annoy Wheein, who usually kept the back of the car to herself on the way home. Wheein kept her eyes staring out of the window next to her, gulping at Hwasa's question. "Hey," Hwasa tried more softly this time, reaching out for Wheein's shoulder and looking at her friend worriedly when their eyes eventually met.

"I'm fine, just tired," Wheein replied simply, and as much as Hwasa wanted it to be the truth, she didn't miss the way Wheein was blinking too quickly and licking her lips, signs she had come to recognise as meaning that her friend was struggling.

"Can I come over tonight?" Hwasa tried, changing the subject as to not make her friend defensive and shut down. Wheein bit her lip.

"I just want to go home and sleep, Hyejin-ah. Sorry," Wheein said, feeling bad about letting her friend down but she didn't want to be around people and infect them with her unshakable mood. And especially not the one person who she would inevitably crumble in front of.

Hwasa pouted but didn't push it. By the time they had reached Wheein's apartment, the girl was almost asleep and Hwasa had to gently shake her awake and usher her out of the car. Once her friend was in her building, Hwasa decided that she couldn't wait for Wheein to be alright like she had in the past. She had to do something.

"Hey, Haneul?"

"Yes Miss Hwasa?" The driver asked.

"Can you go on a different route? I need to do something."

***

Wheein had just finished her third cup of beer when she heard the doorbell ring. She set her cup down carefully and sighed as she got up, turning the tv down and making her way to her front door. She opened it cautiously, hoping that it wasn't the old man who lived in the apartment above hers who liked to invite her for dinner at least once a week. Instead of the creepy smile of the old man, however, she was greeted with the equally creepy smile of her best friend.

"Surprise!" Hwasa said, and Wheein frowned.

"What are you doing here? I said-" Wheein began, but was silenced by Hwasa holding up bags full of snacks and bottles in surrender.

"I just miss you," Hwasa said with a pout and Wheein relented, gesturing for her friend to enter and shaking her head in amusement as she sprinted to her sofa and dived into the pile of blankets she always claimed whenever she visited.

"What did you bring?Wheein asked as she slumped down onto the other end of the sofa, watching as her friend smiled brightly as she rifled through her bags, throwing different kinds of chips at her and listing off each one, then pulling out some cans of beer and a bottle of Soju.

"But it seems like you already beat me to it," Hwasa said, nodding at the empty cans littering Wheein's coffee table. Wheein's cheeks flushed pink.

"I just...it helps me sleep?"

Hwasa raised an eyebrow, and Wheein rolled her eyes. "Of course it does."

The girls settled into meaningless conversation and stupid jokes, as they usually did whenever they were left alone with alcohol and a free schedule the next day, but when Wheein's phone buzzed with a text alert and Hwasa watched her friend's face fall, she knew it was time to get serious again.

"So what's really been going on, Wheein-ah?" Hwasa said, her mouth half-full of chips as she took a long swig of her beer, watching Wheein intensely.

Wheein let out a small breath, her heart racing as she scratched her head in discomfort. "My dad called me last week."

"...your real dad?" Hwasa asked quietly, her heart beating almost as rapidly as Wheein's. Wheein nodded. "Why? He's not allowed to; how did he get your number?"

Wheein shrugged, struggling to meet her best friend's eyes, choosing to play with the strings of her hoodie as she continued. "He was awful, as usual. And threatening to do all these things and asking for money, as usual," Wheein said, her words getting caught in her throat as she spoke. She could see Hwasa's jaw clench from the corner of her eyes and took a big sip of her beer.

"Tell me you didn't give him anything," Hwasa said, the anger in her voice strong and fiery.

"No, not yet-"

"Not yet?!" Hwasa asked incredulously, moving closer to her friend and leaning down to meet her eyes. "Why would you give him anything?"

Wheein met Hwasa's eyes with her own and they soon began to blur with the tears swimming in them. "He said he'd tell everyone about Nayeon."

Hwasa gasped, unable to hide her shock as she spoke quietly, as if someone could be listening in on them. "But he doesn't have proof of anything, right?"

Wheein shook her head firmly. "No, he doesn't have anything but just the scandal of it..." Hwasa could hear the panic in the way Wheein's voice shook, noted the wetness of her eyes and leaned over to pull her into a tight hug.

"Wheein it was years ago, we were kids," Hwasa tried, but she could feel her friend's uneven breathing as a sign that nothing was working.

"I still kissed her. And he saw, Hyejin," Wheein said, the words sticking to her throat as if they didn't want to be let out, a feeling she had been familiar with for a long time. This wasn't something she spoke about freely with Hwasa...it was an unspoken memory between them that was never discussed, that was left to be forgotten.

"I know," was all Hwasa could think to say, not knowing how to comfort her friend for once. "Does your mom know? Or manager unnie?"

Wheein shook her head, pulling away from Hwasa to sit up, her head suddenly spinning from the beer and stress. "I think I'm gonna throw up."

***

"Drink this," Hwasa said, passing her friend a glass as she stood up from being bent over the toilet. Wheein took the glass and sipped slowly, making eye contact with herself in the mirror and regretting it instantly. Her hair was a mess and her eyes red and bloodshot from crying. Hwasa watched her from her seat on the side next to the sink, her face unable to hide the guilt she felt.

"What?" Wheein asked, forcing a small smile, uncomfortable under her friend's stare.

Hwasa pouted, her voice thick with emotion as she spoke. "I wish you told me before. I feel bad for not noticing sooner."

Wheein laughed, genuinely this time, as she tilted her head playfully at her friend. "You're dumb...but that makes two of us, right?"

"Goodbye 2YoungGirls, hello 2DumbGirls," Hwasa joked, eliciting a loud laugh from Wheein which instantly lifted the atmosphere in the room.

"I told Yongsun unnie," Wheein said after a while, her face screwed up in uncertainty as she anticipated her best friend's reaction to the news that she'd told someone else first. Hwasa looked at her curiously.

"You told her about Nayeon?"

Wheein bit her lip, the nerves from before beginning to rise again. "She already knew," Wheein said, making Hwasa looking at her even more confused.

"When?"

Wheein sighed, putting the toilet seat lid down and sitting on it. "When she kissed me. At her party," Wheein said, not missing the shocked sound from Hwasa's mouth or the wideness of her eyes. "I know, I know. I should have told you but she made me swear not to and you know how scary she is when she's serious and...and I didn't know what to do, and I knew if I told you that you might think differently of me and I don't think I could live with you looking at me like that," Wheein said, her words getting tangled in the tears that began to spill from her eyes. She barely finished her sentence before familiar arms engulfed her in a tight hug, and she let herself cry freely for the first time in a long time. She felt Hwasa kiss the top of her head and whisper "it's okay" over and over, which only made her more emotional.

"Wheein-ah, please stop crying," she heard Hwasa beg, her friend's own voice affected by sadness too.

"I'm trying," Wheein whined with an embarrassed laugh and soon enough they were both laughing in a way that would've had them both committed to a mental asylum if anyone else had witnessed it.

Hwasa bent down, taking her friend's face in her hands and wiping her tears away with her thumbs as she met her eyes. She tutted at the sight.

"You like Yongsun?" Hwasa asked, her voice gentle and unthreatening. Wheein's eyes scanned her friend's face for any signs of judgement, but of course she found none. "You like her like you liked Nayeon?" The small nod Wheein gave was telling enough and Hwasa nodded too. "Okay," was all she said. They were quiet for a moment, and Wheein could tell Hwasa was thinking hard by the way her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth slightly, a habit she had teased her about all too often.

Hwasa eventually gave Wheein a small, reassuring smile and took her hands, leading her out of the bathroom and to her bedroom. She pulled back the covers on her bed and gestured for Wheein to crawl under them, before running back to the bathroom and returning with another full glass of water, placing it on the bedside table next to Wheein. She got under the covers too, moving closer to her friend, her nose buried in the back of her neck and her arms and legs wrapped around her securely. Wheein sighed in a way that sounded like relief, interlocking Hwasa's fingers with her own and leaning back into her. 

"I'm going to fix everything, okay?" Hwasa whispered determinedly, proud when she felt the tension almost melt away from Wheein's body with her promise. And sure, she had a lot of work to do, a lot of people to talk to (including one leader unnie who she would be having many difficult conversations with), but she would be damned if she didn't try to fix everything she could for the girl in her arms.


	2. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hwasa tries to be there for Wheein, who begins to start the lengthy process of figuring out who she is...or more complicatedly, who she wants.

Hwasa had been awake for hours when she finally heard movement from Wheein’s bedroom. She had woken only a few hours after falling asleep, her arm numb from the weight of Wheein sleeping on her, when she crept out of bed and found refuge in the living room, sitting on the floor with Wheein’s cat Ggomo making himself at home on her lap. She had remained like that for hours, not knowing how else to start making a plan of how to make Wheein feel better.

The most pressing thing, Hwasa had decided, was Wheein’s father who had always been a burden in her friend’s life ever since she had known her. With him threatening to expose what happened between Wheein and Nayeon, Hwasa knew that Wheein would unfortunately do anything to make sure that no one would ever know about it. In all honesty, Hwasa had almost erased the memory from her mind, only remembering when Wheein mentioned it.

Nayeon was Wheein’s first friend, and when Hwasa first met Wheein, the two were an impenetrable force. Of course, she wanted to make a good impression to Wheein since she wanted badly to be friends with her, so Hwasa didn’t even attempt to get in between the girls. They spent every day together; every lunchtime consisted of Wheein and Nayeon giggling over inside jokes and playful teasing while Hwasa watched in admiration of their closeness, and most weekends consisted of the trio hanging out at Wheein’s house with Nayeon and Wheein competing for the each other’s attention while Hwasa laughed from the sideline. Nayeon was beautiful and intelligent and while she was one of the most popular girls in school, she only seemed to value her friendship with Wheein, which was something Hwasa was glad of. And then the first summer of junior high came and everything changed.

Wheein was having a sleepover to celebrate her birthday, and with Wheein’s grandmother being out of town visiting her uncle, the girls were determined to have a night to remember. Nayeon had managaed to convince one of the senior boys to buy her alcohol, and Hwasa brought enough food to feed an army and soon enough, their small yet loud party had begun. Hwasa and Wheein were in the middle of dancing when Nayeon ran to the bathroom and yelled for Wheein to help her hold her hair back. And Wheein of course left to attend to her. In the minutes that Wheein was gone, a loud knock at the door made Hwasa jump, and she turned down the music then went to check who it was. Through the peephole Hwasa could vaguely make out the figure of a man, who continued to knock at the door and then called for “Jung Wheein” to open the door.

Hwasa opened it, figuring that anyone who had Wheein’s grandmother’s address and knew her name couldn’t be suspicious. The man entered and Hwasa immediately felt her stomach sink at the sight of him. He was sluggish in the way he walked and smelled of stale cigarettes and soju as he brushed past her and walked further into the house calling after Wheein. Hwasa followed him, telling him he should wait in the hallway outside, but the man only got louder and more frustrated. He entered the bathroom with Hwasa following closely behind, and they were both met with the sight of Nayeon and Wheein kissing. Reacting instinctively, Hwasa grabbed the man’s arm with all of her strength and pulled him out of the room just as he began yelling.

“You bitch! What’re you doing?!” The man shouted at Wheein, and the girl immediately pulled back, her eyes wide in shock as she realised who the voice belonged to. Her face paled, and she snatched her hands from where they sat comfortably on Nayeon’s waist as if she was on fire.

“Appa…” Wheein’s voice was barely a whisper, and Hwasa couldn’t help but feel sick at the thought of what she had done. With no other option, Hwasa began screaming at the man, dragging him backwards and out into the living room. She was grateful of the strong smell of alcohol he gave off; she was almost certain that she would not have been able to move him if he was sober. Not knowing what else to do, she pushed him out of the house and slammed the door shut, making sure to lock it straight away. Wheein’s father began pounding against the door with his fists, and what sounded like his feet too, yelling disgusting words tangled with Wheein’s name, and Hwasa couldn’t bear it.

“Go away or I’ll call the police!” Hwasa yelled back, earning a few violent hits against the door in protest before it went quiet and Hwasa watched the figure walk away through the peephole.

“Is he gone?” Nayeon asked quietly from behind Hwasa, making the girl jump.

“I-I think so…” Hwasa said, gulping as she noticed the whiteness of Nayeon’s face and the glassiness of her eyes. Nayeon nodded then almost robotically, she collected her things and went to leave.

“Nayeon, stay. It might not be safe,” Hwasa tried, but Nayeon shook off Hwasa’s hand from her shoulder.

“I’ll be fine.” And with that, Nayeon was gone, leaving Hwasa to tend to Wheein on her own.

She ventured back to the bathroom solemnly, not knowing what to do but she knew that Wheein needed her. The girl stood in the same place as before, with both hands on her cheeks as she stared at the floor, her breathing loud and shaky.

“Wheein-ah?” Hwasa said gently, entering the room and getting closer to her friend. The girl looked up, and as soon as their eyes met, Wheein’s eyes filled with tears as she spoke.

“What am I going to do?”

Hwasa sighed as the memories of that night flooded back to her, only broken out of her thoughts by the soft meows of Ggomo as he left the sanctuary of her lap and ran to Wheein.

“Sleep well?” Hwasa asked her friend, letting out a soft laugh s she watched her yawn animatedly. Wheein nodded as she picked up her cat and joined Hwasa on her spot on the floor. She rested her head on her friend’s shoulder and sighed softly. Hwasa waited for her friend to talk, wanting to know how she was feeling after last night, if she had heard any more from her father and what the extent of her and Yongsun’s relationship was now. But, as if she needed a reminder of why she was practically blood-related to the girl beside her, Wheein had other ideas.

“Have you eaten?” Wheein asked, looking up at Hwasa through the dishevelled strands of blue hair that sprawled across her face. Hwasa shook her head. “I’m going to die of starvation any second now,” Wheein said dramatically, holding Ggomo up to her friend. “And he’s going to be left an orphan! And he’ll see my corpse and have trauma and have to live with PTSD with a scary aunt that won’t sing him to sleep or deal with the PTSD and will eat all his chicken. Right, Hyejin-ah? Right?” Wheein continued, pouting exaggerateduly as she brought the cat’s face close to hers and rocked him back and forth. “And he doesn’t deserve that, he’s a sweet little son and he helps me smile and-“

“Yah! Jung Wheein!” Hwasa said feigning annoyance with a stern voice, proud when Wheein stopped her antics immediately. “What do you want?”

“Let me order food?”

“Really? You wanted permission? Wheein you’re an adult, you can order whatever you want,” Hwasa said with an amused shake of her head as she watched a wide smile take over Wheein’s face as she lifted her cat in the air in victory.

“I told you Hyejin is the best, Ggomo!”

***

“Did you see that Chaeyoung-unnie from school had a baby?” Wheein asked with a mouthful of fruit as she scrolled through her phone, excited when Hwasa’s mouth dropped open.

“Really?! Did she get married already?” Hwasa asked, putting a forkful of pancake into her mouth and waiting for Wheein’s response.

“No I think she cancelled the engagement, but the baby is so cute!” Wheein said, leaning over to show a picture to Hwasa who cooed adoringly until a text from Solar popped up on the screen, asking her to call her. Wheein’s face flushed pink as she shuffled awkwardly at the thought that Hwasa now knew a little more than she wanted her to.

“You can call her if you want,” Hwasa said calmly, watching Wheein’s face as she pondered the thought. She could almost hear the cogs turning inside her head. Wheein locked her phone and set it face down on the table in front of them.

“I know you wanna know about it all,” Wheein began, her eyes fixed on the grapes in her bowl as she spoke. “But you can only have two questions for now.”

“Wheein-ah,” Hwasa whined, reminded of their trainee days when Wheein would come home too tired to talk and only allow her to ask two questions about her day before she would crawl into bed. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s the rules,” Wheein said, sticking out her tongue childishly at her friend. “Or you can have no questions? That sounds better to me, anyway,” Wheein teased, and Hwasa relented.

“Okay fine. But you have to answer with more than a sentence,” Hwasa said and Wheein nodded.

“Deal.”

Hwasa clicked her tongue as she thought of what to ask, overwhelmed enough as it was with everything going on with her best friend, and not knowing where to start. She settled on the first question quite quickly, though, as it had been tormenting her all night long.

“Have you kissed Yong-unnie more than once?” Hwasa asked, embarrassed that she was asking about something so personal, but she really had to know. She heard Wheein take in a sharp breath and tilt her head slightly as she answered.

“It happened twice, once at her subscriber party and then a few weeks ago after rehearsal,” Wheein said quietly, her cheeks bright red as she talked. She could feel the intensity of Hwasa’s eyes on her, but continued speaking, knowing her friend would be dissatisfied with so little information. “The first time we were both drunk, and the second time it was only me that was drunk. And I keep thinking that the second time means more than the first because she was sober and she knew what she was doing, but when I tried to text her about it the next day, she said that I was so drunk that I kissed her mouth because I missed her cheek when we said goodbye. But I remember everything fine.”

Hwasa sucked in a breath as she digested what Wheein had said. It truly sounded surreal that their Yongsun, their leader had kissed her best friend and she hadn’t known about it. And that she had kissed her once when she was sober, too. She was definitely going to speak to her tomorrow, no matter what Wheein thought was best.

“Okay.” Was all Hwasa could respond as she prepared for her next question. “Do you think you like girls then?” It was personal, the most personal Hwasa could get, but she wanted to know where her best friend’s head was at, and since she had been refraining from telling her some of the biggest things happening in her life, Hwasa wanted to show her that she could be there for her no matter what.

Wheein’s shoulders tensed at the blunt question. She looked over at Hwasa and knew that it wasn’t intended crudely, that she had her best interest at heart, but Wheein still shook her head. “No. I-I don’t know. I like men, you know I do. It’s just sometimes better with certain people, and I don’t know how else to explain it. Sometimes the certain people are girls.”

“Okay,” Hwasa said simply, satisfied with her answer and going back to shovelling mouthfuls of fruit into her mouth. She looked over at Wheein who was biting the inside of her cheek, her dimple on full show. Hwasa nudged her playfully. “You know nothing will ever make me not like you, Wheeinie.”

Wheein rolled her eyes and scoffed, but Hwasa noticed the way her friend’s shoulders dropped in relief. “Yeah, I’m never getting rid of you, huh?” Wheein said. Her phone began ringing then, and Wheein sighed as she picked it up and went into the kitchen before she answered it.

“Hello?” Wheein said, biting at her fingernail as she spoke.

“Wheein-ah? You didn’t answer my text,” Yongsun said, her voice sounded a little urgent.

“Sorry I was busy. Everything ok?”

“Yes. Well…no. Can you come over?”

Wheein sighed quietly, knowing that she probably wasn’t in the right state of mind to have anything else thrown at her, but also knowing that she found it incredibly difficult to deny her bandmate of anything. “Hyejin is here right now, but I can be there later? Is that ok?”

“Yeah.” Yongsun replied, and Wheein could sense that she was disappointed with her answer. “Text me when you’re not busy anymore.”

“Ok see y-“ Was all Wheein managed to say before Yongsun hung up. She tutted, throwing her phone onto the kitchen side and heading back into the living room. She slumped down on her sofa and let out a long breath.

“What did unnie want?”

“I have to go see her but that means I’m gonna have to shower and get dressed and look like a normal human being,” Wheein whined dramatically. Hwasa turned to Wheein with a smirk and single brow raised suggestively.

“Wanna look good for Yongsun-ah, huh?”

“I hate you,” Wheein deadpanned, then moved to look at the ceiling, avoiding Hwasa’s teasing expression.

“Need me to help you pick an outfit? Or maybe she’d like you better without clothes-“

“Yah! Hyejin-ah! Too far,” Wheein yelled, earning childish laughter from Hwasa which didn’t cease for longer than necessary, making it inevitable for Wheein to join in because of the infectious sound. And while she was worried about her father and her feelings and how she was ever going to deal with Yongsun derailing her life, God did it feel good to feel free for a minute.


	3. The Leader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wheein and Yongsun try to make sense of their changing friendship, but it turns out Yong's big heart just might be her biggest downfall.

“Wheeinie,” Yongsun said with a soft smile as she opened the door, revealing Wheein who let out a loud laugh at the sight of her leader.

“Unnie! What…what are you wearing?” Wheein continued chuckling as she covered her mouth with her hand and entered her friend’s apartment, the nerves and tension that had been building in her mind over the past few hours instantly melting away at the sight of Yong in a chicken suit.

“Just something for Solarsido,” Yong replied nonchalantly with a wave of her hand as she began unzipping the suit as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Wheein shook her head half-embarassed that the woman wasn’t phased in the slightest about being seen in the outift and took a seat on her couch. Yong slumped down beside her with a dramatic sigh and looked at Wheein through the gap in the hair that had fallen in front of her face. “How are you?”

Yongsun spoke delicately, and Wheein immediately felt a lump return to her throat. “Okay, I think.” Wheein said with a small shrug as she moved to cross her legs underneath her and grabbed a pillow from the couch and hugged it. Yong frowned seriously, then scooted closer to the girl until they both sat cross-legged with their knees touching, and the leader placed a hand lightly on Wheein’s thigh.

“You don’t have to pretend with me, Wheein-ah. You know that, right?” Yongsun asked quietly, and Wheein let out a small shaky breath, praying to every God in existence that her cheeks hadn’t turned their usual shade of bright pink whenever she was around her member, and nodded.

“Why did you need to see me anyway, unnie?” Wheein asked, leaning to rest her head on the couch as she looked at Yong sideways. Yong tilted her head uncomfortably and took a deep breath, suddenly unable to meet Wheein’s wide eyes.

“I…uh…I need you to sign something, and then your father won’t bother you anymore,” Yongsun said as she reached for the stack of papers on her coffee table and gave them to Wheein. Wheein frowned as she read, not able to make sense of the lengthy document, and gave Yong a questioning look. “It’s a contract, I made my lawyer draw it up. She said the only way you could stop your father from using your name is to sue him, but since he has no money and it would mean testifying and risking the press finding out anyway, we came up with a contract.”

Wheein frowned as she thought about what Yongsun was saying, knowing that there weren’t many other options for her, but feeling slightly annoyed that her leader had done all this without consulting her first. “Why didn’t you ask me, first? What if I don’t want other people involved?” Wheein asked, gulping when Yong’s face fell and she shrunk in on herself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I just wanted to-“

“That’s just it though, isn’t it? You do what you want without asking me first or thinking of the consequences,” Wheein said, her words quiet but heavy as her hands traced random patterns on the cushion she was holding.

“I…What’s this about?” Yongsun questioned, dipping her head to meet Wheein’s eyes and sighing sadly at the sight of Wheein’s big eyes looking up at her with a glassiness that made her heart ache.

“You know what it’s about, unnie…” Wheein said, her voice gaining confidence as she collected her thoughts and spoke carefully. “I don’t want to keep ignoring it, it’s not good for me.”

Yong licked her lips as she processed what Wheein was saying, trying to steady the forceful beating of her heart against her ribcage. She hadn’t planned on this, and she while she knew Wheein deserved the decency of an explanation, she didn’t know what to say.

“We’ve talked about it already, Wheein-ah. I don’t know what more you want me to say,” Yongsun said.

“We haven’t talked truthfully. Unnie, you kissed me-“

“Yah! What are you saying? It was an accident,” Yong scoffed, but Wheein shook her head firmly.

“No, once while we’re drunk is an accident. Twice when you’re sober is not.” Wheein said, but after noting Yong’s nervous disposition, her words softened. “Look, I’m just confused unnie, I’m not asking you to confess anything or talk about feelings, I just want you to tell me that I’m not crazy.”

Yongsun gulped and looked away from her bandmate, her eyes beginning to fill with unwanted tears. She stood up from the couch and retreated to the kitchen, dabbing underneath her eyes as she went. She heard Wheein’s timid footsteps on the tile floor approaching her, and sighed in defeat when she felt a small hand reach out to take her arm and encourage her to turn around. Wheein didn’t let go of her arm as they faced eachother, and Wheein couldn’t help but try to lighten the mood.

“Don’t cry baby, come on!” Wheein whined playfully, earning a chuckle from the other woman who looked up.

“I’m sorry, Mc Dduk. You know that?” Yongsun asked, squeezing the girl’s hand and biting her lip. “I…I don’t know why we…why I kissed you. I’ve never done that with any of my friends and never a girl and I don’t know why I did it with you.”

Wheein sighed dramatically and flung herself back on the sofa making loud, whiny noises.

“Uh…Wheein-ah? What are you doing?” Yong asked, tilting her head at Wheein’s antics, brows furrowing in confusion.

“I’m letting my emotions control me,” Wheein said as she eyed the older woman from where she lay, blinking widely as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Hyejinie said that I need to let myself feel everything because I don’t do it well.”

“And what are you feeling now?” Yong asked quietly, almost fearing any kind of answer Wheein could give, knowing full well she wouldn’t know how to process any possibilities.

“Confused,” Wheein began, looking up at the ceiling as she spoke softly. “And nervous. And scared about everything.”

“Scared of your dad?”

Wheein shook her head slightly. “It’s not him I’m scared of. But what would happen if he says anything. Unnie. I don’t even know why I care about any of it, but ever since you…you kissed me,” Wheein whispered the word as if she was scared someone would hear. “I’m more confused than ever.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it-“

“Do you regret it?”

“Regret the kiss?” Yong asked, gulping as Wheein looked up at her with the biggest, most vulnerable eyes she had ever seen. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. “I…no. How could I?” The last few words spilled out like a drunken confession, and Yong’s own eyes widened at her own words as she studied Wheein, the girl having moved ever so slightly nearer to her. Yong had never been one for physical or even verbal displays of affection and hadn’t ever thought of it as a problem until she’d met Wheein. And suddenly she was forced into this, into this moment with the girl who had been making her nights sleepless and heart ache, and she had never wanted to be comfortable with her feelings until she looked into big, hopeful eyes of the girl in front of her.

“You mean that?” Wheein asked, biting her lip as she waited for an answer. There had always been a weird tension around the pair. It wasn’t from anything negative but Yongsun had an unsettling and bold personality which made every member feel awkward and nervous around her. It was never to the point of affecting their friendship, of course, but it meant that the girls, particularly Wheein and Hwasa found it difficult to know what to say sometimes. And with Wheein beginning to understand that her feelings for her bandmate had changed into something more than platonic love, she didn’t know how to address it.

Yong sighed, choosing her words carefully over the loud thumping of her heartbeat in her ears. “I mean it, Wheeinie. You’re special to me. I don’t know where you fit in my life besides being a member just yet, but I’ll work hard to figure it out, okay?” Yong said firmly, reaching out to tuck Wheein’s hair behind her ears and then cupping the girl’s face in her hands, forcing her to look up at her.

“I didn’t like it when you lied the first time. Don’t do it again.” Wheein said with a pout, and although she was the cutest thing Yong had set her eyes on in a long time, she knew Wheein’s words were serious.

“I won’t. I promise,” Yong nodded, smoothing her thumbs along Wheein’s dough-like cheeks in affirmation.

“Okay,” was all Wheein could think to say, afraid that if she didn’t keep talking that Yongsun would realise how close they were and how gentle her touch was and pull away. But contrary to Wheein’s fears, Yong simply nodded and leaned forward to rest their foreheads against each other.

“Do you feel any better?” Yong asked gently, and Wheein swore she could feel the ghost of Yong’s lips against her own as the girl spoke and broke eye contact to look at their touching knees.

“Mhm,” Wheein uttered in confirmation, letting her shoulders relax and focusing only on the smoothness of Yong’s forehead on her own. She could hear Yong’s slightly shaky breathing and felt the air as it left her lips and let out a soft sigh of her own. “Unnie…”

Before Wheein had a chance to really begin her sentence, she felt the gentle press of Yong’s lips against her own, and swore she felt her heart finally burst through her ribcage, shattering the bones and splintering her chest. She couldn’t breathe but she managed to lean into the kiss and follow the movement of Yong’s lips. She closed her eyes, sacrificing one of her senses in an effort to savour the most important one; touch. It was the way that she felt the tip of Yong’s tongue graze her top lip and the hands that had been cradling her cheeks find sanctuary at the nape of her neck that made Wheein want to scream in elation. They had never kissed like this before, with Yongsun seemingly not caring that they were both sober and both aware that something was shifting in their relationship. Or at least, that’s what Wheein felt and hoped Yong reciprocated.

When her oxygen levels became dangerously low, Wheein began to pull back slightly in an effort to take a much needed breath, only to be chased by Yong’s lips and she let out an amused laugh when the older girl realised what she had done and sat wide-eyed, pouting and completely embarrassed.

“Wow, unnie. I knew you were a pervert but I didn’t think you were a desperate one,” Wheein joked lightly, covering her mouth as she laughed, her lips still tingling from the kiss. Yongsun whined and rolled her eyes like a child, only making Wheein laugh harder.

“Yah stop laughing, I didn’t mean to,” Yong huffed, getting up off the sofa and disappearing into the other room. Wheein frowned, worrying that she may have offended Yong until the leader returned dressed in a bear costume. Wheein gasped at the sight.

“Unnie…why…”

“You distracted me and I really need to finish filming for solarsido,” Yong said as a matter-of-factly and Wheein scoffed in protest.

“If I remember rightly you’re the one who invited me over and you’re the one who just kiss-“

“Okay okay,” Yong said, holding up a hand…well rather a paw, as a signal for Wheein to stop talking. “But I really do need to finish. Help me?”

Wheein shrugged, checking her phone and noticing the multiple texts from Hyejin that she had failed to see while her and Yong were…well yeah. She opened them and sighed in annoyance as soon as she read the first sentence. “He showed up at RBW.”

“Who?” Yong asked before the penny dropped and she gasped. “He can’t, he’s breaking the contract.”

Wheein’s head shot up at Yong’s words and she gulped in an effort to steady her voice. “What do you mean? The contract hasn’t been signed yet, has it?”

Yongsun shifted and scratched the back of her neck as she spoke. “I uh…Yes. I told him you already signed too and he-“

“You what? But I don’t even know what the contract says, why would he sign it for no reason?”

“It’s…ah…” Yongsun sucked in air through her teeth and she thought out her next words, afraid that Wheein’s confused expression would manifest into anger if she got it wrong. “It’s like an emancipation order. But since you’re older than 19 there isn’t a way of taking away parental rights unless you draw up a contract. And he signed it, so he agreed to never contact you, use your name or anything like that ever again.”

Wheein’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the woman dressed as a bear, not believing what she had just heard. “You..hold on, wait a minute,” Wheein said, feeling her face begin to flush as her blood boiled. “When did you meet with him?”

Yongsun bit her lip at the serious tone of Wheein’s voice. “This morning. It was the only time he said he would be willing to sign it.”

“What did you give him, Yongsun?” Wheein asked, not caring that she had dropped formalities. Yong sighed deeply. “He wouldn’t just do that; you must have offered him something in return. Don’t bother trying to lie to me.”

“Money.”

“How much?” Wheein said, her voice stern and loud now. “Solar. How much?”

“Yah Wheein-ah why does it matter? I did it to solve the problem.”

Wheein laughed loudly, but the sound was void of any humour or lightness. “Are you for real? You didn’t solve anything! He broke the contract. What were you even thinking? You drew up a contract that would permanently leave me without one of my parents, you assumed that I’d sign it and then you met up with him and gave him money, all without sparing me a second thought? You really have outdone yourself this time, Yongsun.” Wheein said, her words turning to ash in her mouth with each one she hurled at the woman in front of her. She grabbed her jacket and phone and stood up, pursing her lips to keep her tears at bay as she looked the leader dead in the eyes. “I don’t want to see you anymore.” Was all she said as she left Yong’s apartment, leaving the older woman stood frozen in shock with tears of her own, and not daring to look back.


	4. The Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wheein and Yongsun spend some much needed time together. Incl. coffee, honesty and lots of sweetness.

Wheein let the door slam shut behind her and waited for the sound of it auto-locking as she let out a frustrated huff, frowning at the back of Yongsun’s head as she followed the woman. When Wheein opened her front door that morning, she was again surprised to find someone other than the creepy man from upstairs, but her surprise was instantly replaced with confusion as she was met with the sight of her nervous leader. And when Yongsun ordered her to get dressed for practice and told her she would be escorting her there with a serious face, Wheein really didn’t have the energy to argue with her.

“I don’t care if you don’t want to talk to me, you’re getting in the car.”

Wheein sighed as she followed the voice of her leader, annoyed that Yongsun was being so demanding given that she was the reason for the bags under her eyes and the thumping in her head. They were quiet as they descended the stairs in Wheein’s apartment building and got into the car, and Wheein was surprised the woman even knew her address in the first place. She was definitely the most private and antisocial of all the Mamamoo members when it came to having people over, and it was the first time Yongsun had visited her since she had moved into her new place almost two years ago.

“How did you know where I live?” Wheein asked quietly as she settled into the passenger seat and Yong started the engine. The older woman looked over at Wheein and frowned, then leaned over to pull the girl’s seatbelt across her and click it firmly into place. Wheein gulped at the scent of the vanilla perfume Yongsun had been consistently wearing since trainee days as the girl sat back in her own seat and began to drive.

“I asked Hyejin-ah,” Yong replied, surprised at Wheein’s willingness to converse with her; a stark difference from the radio silence she had been experiencing for the past two days. Wheein nodded once in understanding, then rested her chin on her fist as she distracted herself with the grey sky and busy streets outside. “She said you haven’t been answering her calls either…” Yong probed quietly, her eyes drifting from the road every so often to catch a glimpse of Wheein in her mirror, not missing the way the girl’s lips pursed slightly, or the tension in her jaw.

“I’ve been busy,” Wheein said, letting out deep sigh and using the condensation on the window to draw aimless patterns on it as she spoke. “Why did you pick me up, anyway? You’ve never done this before.”

“Because I wanted to make sure you were ok, and I really didn’t want you to turn up to practice hating me,” Yongsun replied simply. Wheein frowned. “But I understand that you’re entitled to feel whatever you want to feel about me.”

“Hate is a strong word. I wouldn’t ever hate you,” Wheein replied, turning to look at Yongsun’s side profile and sitting up straighter in her seat. “I just needed time to…to feel what I was feeling, I guess.”

Yongsun let out a small “oh” in response, and Wheein didn’t miss the way the older girl’s shoulders relaxed a little at her words. “And what did you feel?” Yongsun asked, genuine concern lacing every syllable she spoke. Wheein bit her lip as she turned back, her hands fidgeting as she spoke.

“Uh…angry? At first?” She began, her words quiet and gentle. “And then hurt and confused. Like, the most confused I’ve ever been in my whole life,” Wheein admitted, shaking her head slightly as she looked up and half-heartedly smiled at the other woman in the car, the woman causing the subtle shaking of her hands and erratic thumping of her heart. ”And now…now I just feel like I need answers, honestly.”

Yongsun nodded knowingly as she drove, turning off the highway and driving for a few minutes in silence before pulling into a small carpark. She turned off the engine and turned to face her passenger, forcing her fears down and the corners of her mouth up in a warm smile. “Wanna get a coffee and talk it out?”

Wheein groaned loudly, shattering the intimate atmosphere that had been beginning to build in the car as she whined in annoyance. “Yah, you really need to stop hanging out with Byuli unnie so much. You sounded like a greasy guy from a drama,” Wheein said with an embarrassed laugh as she grabbed her phone and got out of the car. Yong rolled her eyes as she watched the younger girl get out, unable to hide the fond smile that always seemed to appear on her face whenever she heard Wheein’s laughter – even if it was at her own expense.

The women found a quiet booth at the back of the small café, ordering their drinks with a waitress as they sat down across from each other. They looked at each other awkwardly for a second, suddenly aware that they hadn’t ever really spent time like this together since they’d known each other, before bursting out in stress-induced laughter.

“Why is this so weird?” Yongsun whined loudly, forcing Wheein to hold a finger to her lips as her cheeks reddened from her unnie’s lack of sound control. The café wasn’t overly busy, but it was quiet and Yongsun’s voice was twice the volume of the music that played ambiently in the background.

“Control yourself,” Wheein teased, and Yongsun mocked zipping her lips and throwing away the key, making Wheein sigh exasperatedly at the girl’s antics. It was hard to believe the woman in front of her had lived for three whole decades.

“Now how am I supposed to get my answers?” Wheein frowned as she reached forward to unzip Yong’s lips, her finger barely grazing the woman’s skin, but enough to make both girl’s flinch at the feeling. Wheein retracted her hand instantly, as though she’d touched a naked flame, and both women averted their gazes, flustered.

“So…what do you want to know? I’ll answer anything you want me to,” Yongsun said, shaking off the embarrassment and folding her arms on the table, leaning forward as she waited expectantly.

“Wait, what time is practice? Aren’t we going to be late?” Wheein asked, and Yongsun shook her head confidently.

“We don’t have to be there until 10am, I asked manager-unnie if we could schedule it later.”

“So you could kidnap me?” Wheein joked, then gasped when she realised what Yongsun meant. “You mean I didn’t have to be dragged out of my house at 8am? Are you serious?” Wheein groaned and Yongsun felt her cheeks redden as she answered.

“It was the only way I could think of to get to talk to you on your own. And since you did a very good job of not replying to my texts or calls…I had to get creative,” Yongsun shrugged, and Wheein rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Fine, I get it. I won’t ignore you next time if it means I get an extra hour in bed,” Wheein relented. Luckily, the waitress returned with their drinks and set them down, earning words of thanks from both women before they returned to their conversation.

“Come on then, hit me with your best shot,” Yongsun said goofily, attempting to lighten the mood and offering a gentle smile to Wheein. The girl stirred her drink quietly, thinking over her questions and swallowing the anger that was beginning to swim on her tongue as she thought back to the day at Yongsun’s house. It had only been two days since the incident, but Wheein had already managed to bury it in a dark corner of her mind somewhere, and it took her a minute to relive the painful memory.

“Why didn’t you ask me before you met with my father?” Wheein asked quietly, still stirring her drink as she watched the cream on top of her coffee swirl round and round. She heard Yong suck in a small breath.

“I wanted to fix it for you myself. After that night when we went out to drink after rehearsal and we…” Yongsun hesitated as she recalled their kiss, and shook her head free of the apology that was begging to be spoken to the girl in front of her for how she had handled that night, but she stopped herself. Answering Wheein’s questions first was most important. “After that night, when you told me about him and I saw how much you were hurting…I don’t know. I think the leader inside me was activated and I wanted to stop you being unhappy.” Yongsun took a long gulp of her drink in an attempt soothe the pinkness of her cheeks, unused to speaking so honestly around the younger girl.

Wheein nodded twice in acknowledgement of the woman’s answer and licked her spoon clean, set it down on the table and took a sip of her own drink. “You could have told me first, though. I could have stopped you giving him your own money, unnie,” Wheein said and Yongsun nodded.

“I know. And I’m sorry I didn’t. I just suppose I had this picture in my head of your face when I got to tell you that he was gone and wouldn’t hurt you again.” The woman shrugged, trying to shake off how exposed she felt in front of Wheein. She had yet to work out how to control herself around the younger girl ever since their newfound feelings. Wheein bit her lip, trying to hide the small smile tugging at her lips as she took in Yong’s words.

“Okay. But I’m paying you back however much you gave him,” Wheein said and Yongsun protested immediately.

“Wheein-ah, no. I chose to give it to him, he’s not your burden anymore,” Yongsun replied, knowing she’d struck a chord when Wheein looked up at he sadly.

“He’s been my responsibility for my whole life, and it’s not any different now,” Wheein said, her words quiet and vulnerable, her eyes big and helpless as she spoke. Yongsun pouted at the pain in Wheein’s voice and reached over the table to place her hand over Wheein’s.

“It is. This time you don’t have to be on your own. I’ll help you with whatever you need,” Yongsun promised, squeezing Wheein’s hand in reassurance. Wheein looked at their hands and a small smile crept onto her face.

“Smooth,” Wheein chuckled, enjoying the way Yong got flustered and withdrew her hand to run it through her hair with a bashful smile.

“Do you have more questions?” Yongsun asked, picking up her drink and downing the rest in desperation. Wheein’s bottom lip jutted out in thought.

“The contract you got made…was that to protect me too?” Wheein asked.

“Yes. That’s the one thing I’m most sorry for, really. I didn’t think it through too much and I should have asked you before trying to take your father away from you altogether,” Yongsun replied sincerely, glad to be finally given the chance to speak the apology she had rehearsed countless times in her head.

Wheein sighed nonchalantly. “He hasn’t been my dad for a long time. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to get mad at you.”

“No, you were only reacting like any normal person would. I’m just sorry I was so tactless with my actions. I won’t ever keep things from you again, Wheein-ah,” Yongsun said firmly and Wheein nodded as she finished her coffee and set down the empty cup, then let out a long breath, feeling some of the weight on her shoulders begin to disappear.

“Okay then. I think I’m finished being angry with you. But we’ve still got to manage things with the idiot who helped give me life,” Wheein said and Yongsun let out a small laugh of relief at Wheein’s much lighter disposition.

“Is the Q&A over now then?” Yongsun asked and Wheein shook her head in big, dramatic motions, her hair flying wildly around her.

“Don’t you think we should talk about…about the thing that keeps happening whenever we hang out?” Wheein whispered playfully, tapping her lips twice when Yong tilted her head in confusion. The older woman’s mouth turned into a small ‘o’ shape when she realised what Wheein was referring to, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“I thought we already talked about that last time?” Yong asked, looking around the café and noting the other customers sitting nearby. She swallowed and checked her phone, letting out a relieved breath when she saw the time. “We’ve gotta get moving or we’ll be late to practice,” Yongsun said, standing up and gathering her things as she waited for Wheein to follow her. She noticed Wheein’s crestfallen expression and reached over to grab her hand and pull her up. “We’ll talk about it on the way to practice, okay? I promise,” Yongsun said quietly in Wheein’s ear, interlacing their fingers and guiding her out of the café and to her car. She opened the passenger door for Wheein and shut it carefully, then got into the driver’s side and looked over at the younger girl. She was looking back at her expectantly, her eyes wide and hopeful and Yongsun couldn’t help but smile endearingly at the sight. “Seatbelt,” was all Yongsun said as she fastened her own and began driving, feeling Wheein’s eyes burning into her face and making her cheeks redden.

“I just wanna talk about it because we’ve gone so long without being honest about our…our feelings and things,” Wheein said softly and Yongsun swore if she wasn’t preoccupied with keeping the girl next to her as safe as possible, she would have crashed on purpose just to stop the annoyingly loud thumping of her heart in her ears and the warmth flooding her face.

“You’re one of a kind, Jung Wheein,” Yongsun said with a shake of her head and Wheein giggled proudly. “What do you even want to talk about, huh?”

Wheein hummed in thought, bringing her legs up to sit cross-legged in her seat. “Do we…are we…ugh,” Wheein whined as she stumbled over her words and Yongsun chuckled at the girl, glad she wasn’t the only one flustered by her feelings. “I don’t know how to act around you when the members are there,” Wheein said honestly and Yongsun nodded, having had mutual worries herself about what today’s practice would be like. Of course, she was mostly worried that Wheein would still hate her and there would be an awful atmosphere, so it was definitely reassuring knowing she wouldn’t be subjected to an onslaught of questions from Moonbyul about what happened, but this was something she had never had to deal with before. An unfamiliar territory she didn’t know how to tackle.

“I don’t know. You know how bad I am at lying, Wheein-ah,” Yongsun said as she indicated right and turned onto the familiar street where their studio was. She pulled into the carpark and parked, then rested her head on the steering wheel as she thought over what they should do.

“Well, let’s think through our options, unnie,” Wheein suggested and Yongsun turned to face the girl. “Number one, we could tell them. Hyejin…Hyejin may or may not already know a little about what’s been going on anyway…” Wheein said with a slight wince as she anticipated Yongsun’s reaction. The leader had been adamant that no one should know anything of their drunken kisses or possible feelings and she was sure a drunken confession to her best friend wouldn’t suffice as a good enough excuse.

“Oh, I knew about Hyejin already,” Yongsun said calmly. “When I called her asking for your address…she had a bit more to say than just telling me you wouldn’t answer her texts,” Yongsun attempted to joke, but Wheein could noticed the way her words were heavy with something other than a laugh.

“What did she say to you?” Wheein asked, recalling the way Hyejin had promised to talk to Yong herself after she found out how she had been mistreating her friend. Yongsun brushed off the question with a wave of her hand.

“Nothing I didn’t deserve. She’s a good friend, Wheein-ah,” Yongsun replied, making Wheein sigh. “Anyway, what’s option two?”

Wheein shrugged. “We act like normal and try not to act like kids with a big old crush on eachother.”

Yongsun gasped loudly, sitting up and covering her mouth with both hands. “Wheein from Mamamoo has a crush on me? THE Jung Wheein?” Yongsun mocked, earning a frustrated whine from the other girl.

“You’re so annoying,” Wheein said with a pout, annoyed that the woman had managed to make her blush for the hundredth time that day.

“You love it,” Yongsun said and pinched Wheein’s cheek proudly. Wheein huffed, feigning annoyance, then held Yongsun’s hand in place against her cheek and nestled into her touch sweetly. Yongsun couldn’t hide the shock on her face at the sudden contact and watched dumbfounded as Wheein smiled up at her.

“How does it feel to have THE Jung Wheein’s face, and heart, in the palm of your hand?” Wheein said cheesily and Yongsun shrieked in disgust at the girl’s antics, her heart racing but head unable to stop herself from pulling her hand back and grimacing at the giggling girl. A knock at the driver’s window brought both girls out of their playfulness as they were greeted with Moonbyul waving goofily at the girls and Yongsun waved back animatedly.

“Why don’t we just act like us? If they ask, we tell them. But for now, I’d only be comfortable telling the members,” Yongsun said quickly and Wheein nodded in agreement as she got her things and got out of the car and Yongsun followed suit.

“I didn’t know the YongTaxi was in service today,” Byul frowned at Yongsun as Wheein joined them at the driver’s side and the trio made their way into the RBW building, Byul hanging off Yong’s arm as Wheein watched the pair argue amongst themselves with a smile. Of course, things were far from perfect and there would be hard decisions to make in the coming days, but Wheein felt oddly at peace for once, and with Yongsun finally beginning to open up and be honest with her, Wheein really couldn’t find a reason not to smile.


	5. The Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wheein makes amends with her best friend and delves a little deeper into her newfound feelings with Yongsun.

“Again, again,” Wheein pleaded, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she clung to Yong’s arm until the older girl relented, cracking her fingers and loosening her shoulders as she resumed her position at the piano. The first four notes rang out in the empty practice room and Wheein’s laugh echoed through the air as Yong played the theme song for the ‘Teletubbies’ proudly. “Wah, I love it,” Wheein said with a bright smile as Yong finished her rendition and the older girl looked up at her with a matching expression.

“It took me three weeks,” Yong admitted embarrassedly and Wheein let out a hearty laugh at the girl’s shame, placing a hand on her shoulder and rubbing soothingly.

“It’s okay, unnie. I read that it takes old people longer to learn things,” Wheein said with a sympathetic shake of her head and Yong gasped loudly.

“Yah, I thought you were being sweet,” Yong pouted and turned away with her arms crossed, enjoying the way Wheein instantly put a hand on her shoulder and turned her back around with a whine.

“I’m always sweet,” Wheein blinked seriously, and Yong rolled her eyes with a smile she was unable to hide, eventually nodding in agreement. She reached over to brush the hair out of Wheein’s face and tuck it behind her ear, her cheeks flooding with colour, still unused to being so freely affectionate with the girl. Wheein sighed softly. “I kinda want to kiss you right now.”

Yong tilted her head, gulping subtly to hide her rising heartbeat and narrowing her eyes at the girl. “You kinda want to kiss me?”

Wheein muttered a curse word before quickly leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on Yong’s lips and revelling in the way the leader tried to chase her mouth as she pulled away. “Don’t tease,” Yong whined, but stopped as soon as the door swung open and Moonbyul entered with the choreographer, holding five cups of coffee and arguing over a new dance move Byul wanted to include in their rehearsal.

“Still no Hyejin-ah?” Byul frowned as she noticed her two members alone in the practice room and Yong began shaking her head until she noticed said girl walking in behind Byul, her phone to her ear as she bowed her head in a polite hello to everyone, then moved to the corner of the room and spoke in low whispers before eventually hanging up the phone. “I’ve been waiting for ‘my way’ to return,” Byul teased in greeting and Hyejin let out a small laugh paired with an eye roll.

“I had an emergency, unnie,” Hyejin said nonchalantly and Wheein quirked her head at her friend’s words.

“Emergency?” Wheein asked and Hyejin looked blankly at the girl and shrugged off her question, barely looking at her before joining the choreographer and discussing which songs they would run through.

“Did you two fight?” Yongsun asked quietly and Wheein shook her head in confusion, then bit her lip once she realised that she hadn’t responded to Hyejin’s texts just as much as Yong’s.

“Can I take a minute to talk to her?” Wheein asked, sensing the deliberation of her leader who looked at the clock and sighed when she realised how far behind they were already. The sight of Wheein’s pleading eyes made her sigh in a different way and she nodded in relent.

“Hyejin-ah, can we talk for a minute?” Wheein asked, unusually apprehensive as she reached for the girl’s arm and offered her a hopeful smile, a tactic she had always used successfully whenever her friend was annoyed at her. And when Hyejin nodded, Wheein was thankful that her charms had yet to fail her. They went to the empty practice room next door and Wheein slumped onto a couch, with Hyejin following quietly behind her. They were quiet for a moment, an unfamiliar awkwardness threatening to settle between them and the only noise offering distraction was the screeching of Yong’s laughter next door.

“I’m really sorry for ignoring you,” Wheein began, her mouth forming into a pout as Hyejin looked up at her without much emotion. Wheein waited for her to speak, but continued when it was obvious the girl was not going to say anything. “I mean it, Hyejin-ah. I’m sorry.”

Hyejin gave Wheein a half-smile and sighed. “I know. But what happened? I thought we were done with you hiding things from me… and then you don’t even reply to my calls? Kinda hurt, Wheein,” Hyejin said, taking a deep breath at the sight of Wheein’s crestfallen expression and softening her tone a little. “Look, I just want the old Wheein back. My Jung Wheein. We’ve never been so disconnected before and it doesn’t feel right at all.”

“You’re right.” Wheein bit her lip, suddenly emotional as she realised how neglectful she had been. And especially so when she realised how quickly she had been to talk to and forgive Yongsun, yet she didn’t even think of texting her best friend back. “I just…I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Everything around me seems to be falling apart right now and I’m clearly not good at dealing with it.” Wheein willed the tears in her eyes to stay put as she finished speaking and watched Hyejin’s face turn into a frown.

“It’s not all falling apart though, Wheein-ah,” Hyejin said with a tut at the girl’s emotional response. “By the looks of it, you and Yong-unnie are practically married, so that relationship isn’t falling apart. You and I…as much as you’re the worst for ignoring me, ‘you’re still my number one’,” Hyejin sang the last part, enjoying Wheein’s laughter at her quoting their favourite karaoke song and she instantly felt lighter. So, maybe she had been a bit dramatic and self-destructive over the past few days…it still wasn’t entirely her fault. “And your asshole of a father better watch out if he ever comes to the studio again,” Hyejin added, making Wheein frown when she realised she hadn’t told her friend what had happened.

“How did you know that?”

“You know how we thought Yongsun was always the best with secrets? Well, apparently, she can’t hide anything when it comes to you, Jung Wheein. She didn’t tell me exactly what happened, just that he showed up here and you had a fight and left Yong’s apartment.”

“But she-“

“And before you ask why she didn’t tell you about what we spoke about, I told her not to.”

“Why?”

Hyejin rolled her eyes as if the answer were obvious. “Because I wanted to speak to you first. And she was worried, Wheein-ah. She needed someone to talk to too,” Hyejin said and Wheein let her shoulders relax as she sunk back into the sofa and closed her eyes.

“I wanna sleep forever-“

“Yah, 2YoungGirls, we’re gonna be here until midnight at this rate,” Byul’s voice interrupted, then disappeared back into the other room, and Wheein groaned dramatically as she stood up and offered Hyejin her hand.

“Wanna have a girls’ night this weekend? Before we go to Busan?” Wheein asked. “I wanna get back to being normal.”

“Ok but you have to come to mine,” Hyejin said, walking alongside Wheein as they reentered the practice room, much to their unnies’ delight. “There’s a new Ahn in the house.”

“Eh? What do you mean?” Wheein asked and Hyejin just laughed mischievously in response.

“Okay everyone, places please,” Yongsun ordered, clapping her hands and gathering her bandmates together, her eyes lingering on the blue-haired girl as she moved into her position next to her and nudged her gently.

“Fixed it?”

Wheein nodded and gave the woman a goofy smile as she nudged her back and gave her hand a quick squeeze just as the music began playing, and the four girls transformed into effortless performers, a far cry from the playful and sporadic personalities they shared in their usual lives.

It was dark by the time practice ended, with Byul blaming Hyejin’s lateness on them being so delayed, which earned a strong rebuttal from the maknae who argued that Byul’s desire to show off in front of the hot choreographer took up at least a third of their practice time.

“Kids, stop arguing,” Yongsun whined as she walked behind the girls with Wheein by her side. They exited the building and Byul was quick to wave a goodbye and begin driving to pick her sister up from a party on the other side of town. Yongsun had managed to muster the courage to ask Wheein if she wanted to hang out at her place instead of going home straight away, and without a reason not to, the girl happily agreed. “Do you want a ride home, Hyejin-ah?” Yong asked when she noticed the girl lingering outside the RBW building suspiciously.

“Oh! Uh, no thanks, unnie. I’m good,” Hyejin said, checking her phone for the tenth time that minute. Wheein eyed the girl suspiciously.

“So first you won’t tell me about the ‘emergency’ from this morning, then you won’t explain to me what you mean by there being another ‘Ahn’ in your house and now you’re waiting on street corners at night time…Ahn Hyejin are you a gangster?” Wheein asked seriously, and Hyejin smirked.

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you. And anyway, I already told you you’ll find out at girls’ night.”

“I’d happily take death over all these damn secrets,” Wheein whined impatiently, stopping when a large 4x4 slowed to a stop in front of them and Hyejin sighed in relief. The black tinted window paired with the fact it was dark outside meant that Wheein was unable to recognise the driver as Hyejin quickly pecked her cheek in a goodbye, waved at Yong and jumped in the car without a care in the world.

“Come on, Wheein-ah,” Yongsun urged sweetly, grabbing Wheein’s hand and pulling the girl towards her own car as the younger girl’s mouth hung open in disbelief.

“Do you know who that was?” Wheein asked.

“Nope,” Yong replied, opening the passenger door of her car, guiding Wheein in and getting in the driver’s seat. Wheein continued staring out the window in the direction the car left and turned to Yongsun with hopeful eyes. “No. Wheein-ah we are not chasing that car,” Yongsun said firmly, tutting to herself as she noticed Wheein’s lack of seatbelt and once again pulled it across her body and clicked it securely in place, then sat back in her seat. Wheein pouted exaggeratedly at the older woman, leaning towards her and pleading silently. Yongsun shook her head. “That’s not gonna work on me this time.”

“Fine. But since when was Hyejin seeing anyone? I thought she was on a self-inflicted dating ban?” Wheein mused to herself as Yong drove them in the direction of her house.

“Maybe you’ve both been hiding your crushes from eachother…” Yongsun said, and Wheein didn’t miss the pride in her voice.

“Unnie I don’t have a crush on you,” Wheein said and Yongsun shook her head.

“Actually you said, and I quote, that you had a ‘big old high school crush’ on me,” Yongsun beamed, proud that she’d managed to recall the right words for once, and Wheein shook her head, flustered.

“What do I have to do to make you forget I ever said that?” Wheein asked and Yongsun quirked an eyebrow.

“Interesting. I never really pictured you as one to like taking orders,” Yong replied, her eyes dancing with playfulness as she watched Wheein’s cheeks tint pink in the reflection of the window. The girl shook off her embarrassment quickly and moved to sit more comfortably in her seat when she replied.

“Really? Because I’ve often pictured you as being a girl who likes to give them,” Wheein said and Yongsun was suddenly grateful she was pulling into her garage and there wasn’t much risk of causing a collision from the girl’s response. Wheein chuckled to herself as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, joining Yong at the driver’s side. “Is your sister home?”

Yongsun shook her head and reached for Wheein’s hands, linking their fingers together and swinging them from side to side. “She’s in Barbados with her boss. Well, her boss/boyfriend/future ex-CEO.”

“’Future ex-CEO?’”

“Yeah, she’s going through this phase of finding men who are cheating their companies and ruining their lives by making them fall in love with her. She’s enjoying it, and it pays well so…” Yong shrugged and Wheein laughed as they walked hand-in-hand up the stairs to Yong’s apartment.

“She gets paid to do that?”

“She did it once accidentally. And then twice just for fun and then she decided to start approaching companies as a ‘private investigator’ for CEOs and managers and they hire her to investigate. As long as she gets the job done, turns out they don’t really care how she does her ‘investigating’,” Yong said, letting Wheein into her apartment and shutting the door behind them.

“Your sister’s a badass.”

“So am I?” Yongsun said and Wheein rolled her eyes as she slumped onto the couch and pulled Yong down with her. Yongsun immediately nestled into the younger girl and rested her head on her chest, humming contenting as Wheein lazily stroked her head.

“Oh yeah, you’re the baddest,” Wheein joked, and Yongsun enjoyed the feeling of the noise vibrating through her ear. It was soothing.

“Whatever,” Yongsun yawned, and Wheein followed suit with a squeaking yawn of her own. “I usually work as soon as I get home but…I don’t feel like doing anything when you’re here,” Yongsun said quietly.

“You’re saying I’m unmotivating? Thanks unnie,” Wheein said, and Yongsun let out a small laugh, then reached for Wheein’s free hand which wasn’t in her hair and held it tightly to her chest as if it was one of her precious stuffed animals. She kissed each of her knuckles softly.

“I like being able to slow down with you. It’s peaceful,” Yong finally replied, her lips grazing the top of Wheein’s hand as she spoke.

“You’re right,” Wheein said, as if she’d suddenly come to some sort of revelation. “It’s nice doing nothing.”

“Well…I can think of something we could be doing…?” Yongsun suggested and Wheein could hear the girl’s smirk in her voice.

“And what might that be?” Wheein feigned innocence, making Yongsun sit up slightly and twist her body so she was propped up on an elbow and facing the younger girl next to her.

“This,” Yongsun said, leaning forward to capture Wheein’s lips in a gentle kiss, their lips moving slowly and unrushed against each other. Wheein brought a hand instinctively to the base of Yong’s neck and pulled her down a little further, making her mouth open a little wider. Wheein easily slipped her tongue past the woman’s lips and couldn’t hold back her noise of approval when she felt the older woman do the same. Quickly, their soft and gentle kiss turned into one of desperation; one of pent-up moments from the day where they didn’t want to out themselves to their members so soon, of countless times they had caught each other staring in the mirror when they thought the other wasn’t looking, of all the times Wheein would ‘accidentally’ brush against various parts of Yong’s body and leave with an amused glint in her eye and confidence in her walk. They put everything into the kiss.

“Do you wanna,” Yongsun tried between kisses, their lips pressed hard against each other as their tongues fought relentlessly. “Stay over?” Yongsun bit down slightly on the bottom of Wheein’s lip when the younger girl pulled away to look up at the woman, eyes wide and chest moving up and down rapidly. “I don’t wanna…y’know…not yet or anything,” Yong said awkwardly when she realised the implications her words may have had on the dazed girl lying beneath her.

“No, yeah. Of course. I wanna stay,” Wheein stammered out, her face turning the colour of the…seventy boxes of maltesers stacked next to her head? “Uh…unnie…why?”

Yongsun shrugged, completely unphased as she moved to sit up next to Wheein and let the girl regain a little composure. “They were for Solarsido and then I really liked them, so they sent me more…but they keep getting delivered so I think I’ve somehow got a subscription now?”

“A subscription for chocolate?” Wheein laughed, turning herself so she was lying with her head in Yong’s lap as she reached up to poke the girl’s cheek. “Is this where you keep them? Like when hamsters hide their food for winter, you put all your maltesers in here?” Wheein mused, poking the girl’s cheeks and enjoying the way her finger would sink into the supple mounds. Yongsun shook her head free of the girl’s finger and bit down on it in playful scolding. “Ow! Kink noted.”

Yongsun let out a loud laugh at the girl’s words and looked down at her in disbelief. “You really are something special,” the leader said, and although Wheein knew she meant it in jest, the way the woman was looking at her, with a softness she had only ever seen in people who meant the most to her, made her believe that there may have been truth to her words.

Wheein simply smiled up at the girl and pulled her head down to meet her lips in a quick but gentle kiss.

“It feels like I’ve been doing that my whole life,” Wheein said when Yongsun pulled away and continued to look down at her. “In a really good way.”

Yongsun nodded, and Wheein revelled in the way the woman’s cheeks moved of their own accord at the motion. “Me too. Today turned out to be a pretty fucking great day.”

Wheein fist-pumped the air and let out a loud hoot of agreement, giggling to herself at the sight of Yong’s shocked expression. And maybe if it weren’t for the older woman being so cute, so enamouring, or so funny, Wheein might have noticed that she’d left her phone in Yong’s car earlier, and she might have realised in time enough to answer the three calls from the unknown number belonging to a not-at-all unknown person.

But Yong was too distracting, and Wheein was much too happy.

And although they were unaware of the thunderstorm that was heading their way, they needed a moment to soak in the sun first.


	6. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wheein and Hyejin get some much-needed girl time.

It had been a pretty uneventful week for Wheein, and with rehearsals, vocal practice and Yongsun taking up all of her time (not that she was complaining about the latter), she was looking forward to some quality time with her best friend, so when she turned up at Hyejin’s house and was met with a welcome beer and warm hug, Wheein couldn’t contain her happiness.

“What are you smiling at, creep?” Hyejin asked as she closed the door behind her friend and eyed her suspiciously. Wheein only smiled wider.

“I’m just excited!” Wheein said, taking a long gulp of beer and slipping her shoes off, only to be stopped by Hyejin’s hand on her shoulders.

“Ok but you’re gonna get more excited in like ten steps, so please calm down so you don’t have a heart attack once you get inside, Wheein-ah,” Hyejin said with a laugh and Wheein tilted her head like a confused puppy.

“Is this the secret Ahn thing you wouldn’t tell me about?” Wheein asked and Hyejin nodded with a mischievous smile and took the girl’s hand, leading her into her living room and giggling at the girl’s disbelieving gasp.

“Jung Wheein, meet Ahn Onsoon,” Hyejin said proudly, and Wheein looked up at her friend with a pout and wide, teary eyes.

“This was your emergency? You got a tortoise?” Wheein asked incredulously, letting out a hearty laugh of relief when Hyejin nodded and she realised that the time she had spent over the week worrying about the possibility of having more obstacles or difficulties to face because of Hyejin’s secret had all been for nothing. “Are you crazy?”

Hyejin shrugged, then reached into the rather enormous tank and gently pet Onsoon’s shell. “He’s so cute,” Hyejin cooed when the creature began to stretch out his neck in satisfaction, prompting Hyejin to scratch him softly.

“When did you get him? And why?” Wheein asked curiously, recalling the way her friend had always been adamant about not having anything other than plants relying on her for care or attention at home.

Hyejin stopped petting Onsoon and gestured for Wheein to move, then grabbed her beer as the two slumped onto the couch and Hyejin kept an eye on the tank in the corner of the room.

“Do you remember Mr. Son? From upstairs?” Hyejin asked and Wheein nodded, easily recalling her best friend’s neighbour from the handful of times she had met the man when he was gifting Hyejin whatever homemade delicacy he had cooked that week.

“The man who made you like kimchi?”

Hyejin nodded. “His kimchi is still the only kimchi I’ll eat.”

“So what about him?” Wheein persisted when Hyejin sat quietly with a docile smile on her face, clearly reliving some kind of epiphytal kimchi experience she had had.

“Ah. Well…he knocked on my door the other night, the night before practice, and he was really upset. Like almost crying, Wheein-ah, it was horrible. So I asked him what was wrong and he said his nephew had decided to move him into a retirement home because he couldn’t afford the rent anymore, and that he didn’t know they didn’t allow pets until a day before he was due to leave. So he asked me if I could look after Onsoon until he could find somewhere permanent for him, and of course I said yes.”

“So you have to give him back?” Wheein asked, her lips jutted out in an exaggerated pout and Hyejin shook her head.

“I only spent an hour with him Wheein-ah and we just clicked. He’s my style, we really vibe,” Hyejin said dreamily as she looked over to where her little guy was sluggishly making his way to his bathing pool. “So I called Mr. Son and offered to have him permanently and he was really happy about it and so am I,” Hyejin finished with two thumbs up and a goofy smile and Wheein threw her head back in laughter at her friend’s dorky antics.

“I should’ve known you would enjoy the company of a tortoise. Now that I think of it, you have very similar ways of life.”

Hyejin nodded, taking Wheein’s words as a compliment and bringing her can of beer to her lips. “He’s really changed my life already. I can’t go anywhere without thinking about what he’s doing or how he’s feeling.”

“Aw, your motherly instincts have kicked in,” Wheein said with a laugh.

“I know you all tease me about not being resposibile enough for a pet but I really take good care of him,” Hyejin said quietly and Wheein looked at her in surprise.

“I know you’re capable, he looks so happy already,” Wheein reassured the girl and Hyejin smiled appreciatively.

“Hey, talking about looking happy…you’re practically glowing Wheein-ah, Yongsun must be doing something right,” Hyejin teased with a mischievous smirk and Wheein couldn’t stop her cheeks from warming at the thought of the woman she’d spent almost every night with.

“She’s…yeah. We’re happy,” Wheein nodded and Hyejin let out a content sigh as she put a hand on each of Wheein’s shoulders and leaned in to look closely into her eyes.

“You look like you’re in love,” Hyejin said seriously, and opened her mouth to rebut the statement but couldn’t find any words of refusal. While she knew she wasn’t completely in love with Yong just yet, she couldn’t deny that she was close to beginning to walk that path. Hyejin pulled the girl into a tight hug, ruffling Wheein’s hair as she spoke softly. “I like seeing you this happy. Just make sure you keep your heart in line with your head.”

Wheein nodded against the girl’s shoulder, not taking offence at Hyejin’s words purely for the fact that she had often been in complicated relationships where her feelings misaligned with what she actually wanted, and resulted in many sleepless nights exploring her true feelings with Hyejin.

“So, where’s your girl tonight?” Hyejin questioned after she pulled away and downed the rest of her drink. “You’ve been attached at the hip lately.”

“I sent her on a date with Byuli-unnie,” Wheein said, and Hyejin’s brows shot up in surprise. “I realised how we’ve both been neglecting you two and I knew that if I didn’t send Byuli over that she would just spend the night working on her youtube channel or something else unsociable.”

“You sent Byul-unnie to her?”

Wheein nodded. “I gave her a giftcard so she could take Yong-unnie to her favourite restaurant and make sure she eats properly because she never seems to cook when I’m not around,” Wheein mused, and Hyejin laughed teasily at her friend.

“Yah, I didn’t know you were such a romantic Wheein-ah,” Hyejin said and Wheein shoved the girl playfully.

“I’m not! I just wanted to do something nice…I don’t know,” Wheein said, embarrassed that she hadn’t realised just how sweet her actions had been. “Anyway, you can’t talk to me about being romantic when you’ve got a mystery man picking you up from every practice now,” Wheein challenged, folding her arms and enjoying Hyejin’s flustered look.

“He’s not a mystery man,” Hyejin said quietly, reaching for Wheein’s beer when she realised her own was empty. “And he only picked me up because he was passing through,” Hyejin shrugged as she took a long sip from the can.

“If he’s not a mystery then tell me who he is,” Wheein said and Hyejin bit her lip and avoided Wheein’s eyes before muttering under her breath. “Huh? Louder please, Hyejin-ssi.”

“It’s just Jae-wook oppa,” Hyejin said, wincing when she heard Wheein gasp and let out a long sigh.

“Hyejin-ah. Really?” Wheein asked, hoping that she’d misheard her friend, but Hyejin only shrugged. “I thought you were done with him?”

It was Hyejin’s turn to sigh now. “We’re not back together, not that we were ever really together before. But we’re just…we missed eachother. And he’s trying really hard this time, Wheein-ah. He really is.”

Wheein sighed, recalling how besotted Hyejin had once been with the producer, and how heartbroken she had been when he had told her that he wanted nothing more than to “chill” with the girl, resulting in Hyejin developing a very unhealthy love for alcohol and a considerable lack of motivation for music or anything other than the man she had fallen for. It had been a struggle to break her out of it and make her realise that as much as she was trying to convince herself that she was happy with their arrangement, being friends with benefits wasn’t enough for Hyejin, and thus resulted in a painful night spent clinging to Wheein and questioning why she was never good enough. Wheein shook off the uncomfortable memory and looked seriously at her friend, brushing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.

“You know I’ll always be in your corner, whatever decision you make, but I never want to see you hurt again the way he hurt you. You deserve so much more than what he did to you,” Wheein said softly, and Hyejin nodded knowingly.

“You’ll always mean the most to me,” Hyejin said with a small pout, tears suddenly making her eyes glaze over as Wheein outwardly cringed.

“Yah, what are you doing?” She laughed, watching as Hyejin whined at her own emotions. “How many beers have you had?”

“Maybe this many?” Hyejin held up three fingers on one hand and two on the other, counting and recounting with intense concentration. Wheein shook her head fondly.

“No wonder you’re all mushy,” Wheein said, bringing her own drink to her lips and finishing the rest of it in an effort to catch up to her friend. They sat quietly for a moment, both knowing that their lives had taken strange turns recently, yet happy that their own dynamic hadn’t changed at all. They were still the best of friends and neither of them would have it any other way.

Wheein’s phone buzzed with an incoming call, and she answered without hesitating when she saw the caller ID.

“Eomma,” Wheein hummed, and Hyejin looked up excitedly, pulling on Wheein’s arm and trying to get near the phone.

“Hi gorgeous,” Hyejin drawled loudly, forcing Wheein to put the phone on speaker and the sound of her mother’s laugh echoed through Hyejin’s living room.

“Hi honey. It’s nice to hear your voice,” Wheein’s mom said brightly and Hyejin nodded in agreement, making Wheein nudge her.

“She can’t see you, dummy,” Wheein said with an eye roll and Hyejin’s mouth formed a small ‘oh’ in realisation as she replied.

“It’s nice to hear your voice too. Wheeinie never lets me call you anymore,” Hyejin said with a dramatic sigh.

“That’s only because you kept drunk-dialing her at 4am to tell her how much you love me,” Wheein said with a smirk and Hyejin scoffed in denial, before withdrawing from the conversation and slumping back into the couch.

“And I loved every minute of it,” Wheein’s mom replied, earning a smug smile from Hyejin. “But anyway, I need to talk to you about something, darling.”

“What’s up?”

“I had a visitor in the shop today…” Wheein’s mom said and Wheein could hear the hesitation in her voice.

“Was it him?” Wheein asked, her words tense as her eyes flitted to where Hyejin had crawled off the sofa and sat contently next to Onsoon’s tank, her eyes level with the tortoise. Hyejin looked back to her friend when she heard the concern in her voice.

“No,” Wheein’s mom replied and Wheein felt her body relax. “But it was someone just as unexpected. Did you know Nayeon was back in Korea?”

Wheein’s eyes met Hyejin’s in a panic, and the girl shrugged helplessly from her spot on the floor. “No...she came in the shop?”

“Yes. She said she needed to speak to you and had tried calling but thought she had the wrong number, but I told her you’ve had the same number since you debuted because you refuse to change your phone.”

“Ah,” Wheein said in realisation as she recalled the calls she had gotten throughout the week from an unknown number which she had blocked straight away as per Yongsun’s advice, the leader reasoning that anyone who needed to speak to Wheein that urgently should know her well enough to know that she doesn’t answer people she doesn’t know. “Did she say why she needed to talk to me?”

“No, she just asked if I could give you her number so you could call her. It seemed pretty urgent.”

Wheein sighed and accepted defeat. “Can you text it to me? I’ll call her tomorrow,” Wheein said, making Hyejin look at her in surprise. Long-gone was the girl who used to ignore her problems and distract herself until they got too big to handle alone.

“Okay. I’ve got to go, your father’s decided he’s got some hidden talent for baking and I can smell something burning again,” Wheein’s mom said exasperatedly and Wheein laughed, imaging the sight of her stepfather flustered and trying to mask the burnt smell like he used to when he would bake cookies for her as a kid.

“Okay. I miss you, tell Appa I miss him too,” Wheein said before feeling a weight on her back as Hyejin clambered carelessly over her until she was close to the phone.

“I miss you too,” Hyejin said and Wheein’s mom chuckled through the phone.

“I miss you both. Take care of each other,” Wheein’s mom said and the girls smiled at the familiar words Wheein’s mom had often said to them since middle school.

“We will. Love you,” Wheein said, ending the call when she heard her mom return her love and groaning when she realised Hyejin was practically sitting in her lap and smiling at her softly. “Yah, get off.”

Hyejin shook her head, moving her butt to make herself more comfortable and leaning back into Wheein before letting out a satisfied sigh. “No wonder Yongsun-unnie never wants to let you out of her sight. You’re pretty damn comfortable Wheein-ah.”

Wheein blushed at Hyejin’s words, and as if on cue, Wheein’s phone buzzed with a text from the leader.

YS: Thank you for the forced company and free food. You’re very sweet.

Wheein smiled, knowing that while the woman’s words weren’t overflowing with affection and cute affirmations, it took a lot for the woman to outwardly express her feelings, and especially through text. Wheein typed out a casual reply with a request that the leader enjoys her night without worry, before turning off her phone altogether.

“So…Nayeon’s back?” Hyejin asked, although it sounded much more like a weighted realisation, and Wheein shrugged, resting her chin on her friend’s shoulder and focusing on the warmth emitting from her body. It was always surprising that the girl was able to feel like home to her.

“I don’t want to even think about what she’s got to say. But with my dad…and the blackmail…I can’t imagine it’s just a coincidence,” Wheein said, feeling unsettled yet stable enough to handle whatever was coming her way. She wasn’t alone this time, and she felt infinitely more content at the thought.

“I can be there when you call her, if you want?”

Wheein smiled and leaned her head closer to Hyejin’s. “Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’d probably be a lot less stressed,” Hyejin chuckled.

“Probably,” Wheein shrugged simply, before squeezing the girl tightly and offering a much more truthful reply. “But a lot less happy, too.”


	7. The Almost Storm

“Can you grab my bag, unnie? I’m late already,” Wheein groaned, tying the laces on her sneakers and brushing a hand through her hair with a huff. She stood, accepting her bag from Yongsun’s outstretched hand and giving it a subtle squeeze in thanks. 

“Do you need me to pick you up later?” Yong asked quietly, and Wheein shook her head, taking in the subtle dark circles under the woman’s eyes and the way her shoulders drooped subconsciously. 

“Rest, okay? And eat a proper meal?” Wheein requested, squeezing the woman’s arm and tucking her hair behind her ear. She supposed it was their version of public kiss. Yongsun nodded with a small smile and bit the inside of her cheek. 

“I want to-“

“I know, me too,” Wheein sighed, looking around at the bustling dressing room and settled for hugging the woman goodbye instead of kissing her. “I’ll text you later.” Wheein left with a wave to the rest of their team still packing up from the night’s concert and hurried out of the building, refusing to think about where she was going in case her brain convinced her to turn around. 

It didn’t take long to reach the quiet bar they’d agreed to meet at, Wheein waving the taxi driver goodbye and shoving her hands deep into her pockets as she was faced with the icy night breeze. She pulled open the door and to the familiar building and greeted the owner with a soft smile. 

“Wheein-ah, nice to see you,” The woman grinned, giving the girl a quick hug before leading her to her usual table. “Are you meeting someone?”

“Yeah, they should be here any minute. How have you been, unnie?” Wheein asked, taking off her coat as she settled into the booth in the back corner of the bar, the table littered with soft burning candles and plants strewn across the darkened window beside her. 

“Good. Although Joohyun’s been driving me mad lately. She thinks we need a bigger house but I told her there’s no point when it’s just us and the dog,” the woman sighed and Wheein laughed. 

“You agreed to let her get the puppy? Yah, you’re so whipped, Seulgi-unnie,” Wheein teased, enjoying the way the woman hit her arm and let out a sigh. 

“Shut up. Are you gonna order anything or are you just here to make fun of me all night?” Seulgi groaned and Wheein smiled goofily at the girl. 

“The usual, please. Plus an extra beer,” Wheein said, blowing the woman a kiss dramatically as she left to tend to Wheein’s request. Wheein looked around, noting the various couples seated around the bar, the soft pulse of music playing from the speakers masking most of the chatter. Her eyes drifted to the door, noting a woman looking flustered and confused as she entered the building. Wheein could tell that face anywhere. She let the woman’s eyes search the room, only offering a small wave when their eyes locked. The woman hurried over. 

“Sorry I’m late. The traffic was awful and I maybe got a little lost too,” the woman admitted, her cheeks flushed pink as she took a seat across from Wheein and let out a relieved breath. Wheein, wide eyed and unnerved, just nodded in response.  
“Have you been waiting long?”

Wheein shook her head. “I was a little late too so it’s okay,” Wheein said, trying to calm her heart with each word she spoke, thankful for Seulgi’s appearance and the drinks she set down. “I got you a beer? I…I didn’t know what you like…” Wheein said awkwardly. 

“You didn’t have to,” Nayeon said, offering a small smile in thanks at Seulgi who nodded back and retreated to the safety of her bar. “But thank you,” she said, eyes boring into Wheein’s, making the girl increasingly uncomfortable with the attention, before shaking her head as though she were breaking a trance. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be creepy, it’s just weird seeing you again in person.”

“Ditto,” Wheein said, taking a long, slow drink of her beer and soju cocktail, eyes subtly tracing over the woman in front of her. She had changed a little with age, but she still looked very much like the Nayeon she knew years ago. Her hair was a lighter brown, her cheeks a little slimmer, her eyes coupled with faint laughter lines, but her strong sense of self was still there, present in the way she sat upright, as though subconsciously demanding to be seen, her lips still stretching into that same heart-stopping grin she’d worn throughout middle school. “Do you still live in Jeonju?”

Nayeon shook her head, folding her arms on the table and leaning forward slightly. “I’m actually living in China right now,” the woman said. “I was just home for a little healing time.”

“Ah. Why do you live in China?” Wheein asked, surprising herself with how calm she was now, having prepared herself all week to not burst out in rage at the thought of all the awfulness Nayeon had subjected her to in the past. It was strange. Maybe she had grown up. 

“Work. I’m acting in a movie, it’s crazy how it happened really. One minute I was-“ Nayeon cut herself off, running a hand through her hair, an embarrassed chuckle leaving her lips. “Sorry. I told myself I wouldn’t make this about me. Anyway, I owe you an apology before anything else,” Nayeon said quietly, gulping when she was met with Wheein’s blank expression. “I’m really sorry for everything that happened. Truly. I wish I didn’t do what I did, I wish I never stopped being your friend, I wish I-“

Wheein raised a hand, silencing the rambling woman in front of her. “I…I’ve thought about it a lot too. But if you hadn’t done any of it, I wouldn’t have become as close to Hyejin, and we probably wouldn’t have left Jeonju together. I don’t like to think of what could have been, because I don’t like the thought of not having this life,” Wheein said seriously, tracing absentminded patterns on the condensation on her glass. “I’m not gonna get mad at you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“But you should, Wheein. I was so awful to you, and Hyejin for that matter.”

“We got over it. Well, I did at least. I can’t guarantee that Hyejin won’t want to strangle you if you meet again, but you know how she is.” Wheein laughed at the thought, and Nayeon shook her head in amusement. 

“I’d gladly take the attempted murder if it helped her feel better. How is she?”

“She’s good. Happy, for the most part.”

“And you?”

Wheein thought for a moment, flitting through the array of emotions she had been feeling lately before settling on one that felt warm and cosy and turned the tips of her ears pink. “I’m happy too,” She said, failing to hide the bashful smile on her face. 

“Yah, who’s got you smiling like that? I know that look,” Nayeon said, her eyes glinting with mischief, leaning her chin onto her palm as she waited for an answer. Wheein shook her head. 

“Nope. I’m not telling you,” Wheein sing-songed, trying not to think about how quickly they had fallen into a familiar sense of ease with eachother. 

“We haven’t even talked about my dad yet, anyway,” Wheein said, thankful that Nayeon wasn’t tempted to press her any further, instead choosing to take a swig of beer and sigh. 

“God, I know he’s your dad and everything, but I really fucking hate that man,” Nayeon uttered, her face morphing into a deep frown. Wheein nodded in agreement. 

“So…what happened?”

“The usual. He was drunk around town the other night and my Dad saw him while he was going to work, he was hanging out by the harbour, you know the place where we used to camp out?” Nayeon said and Wheein nodded, trying not to remember those nights spent together, full of laughter and a little too much affection. “Well my Dad was getting ready to take the boat out when he saw him slip and fall into the river…he got him out and took him to the hospital because he was so out of it and…well, when they woke up and told him what happened, instead of thanking my Dad he…he told him about what had happened. Between us.” Nayeon bit her lip, watching Wheein’s face intently and trying to work out what she was thinking.

“So that’s why you didn’t just tell my Mom what had happened? Because of what he said?”  
Nayeon nodded. “I-it’s not like I’m ashamed or anything like before,” Nayeon said, and Wheein couldn’t help but wince at the girl’s wording. It was still unpleasant to hear she had been the cause of someone’s shame. “I mean, I just didn’t want to tell her something you didn’t want her to know. I’d already wrecked your life enough, y’know?”  
Wheein nodded slowly, understanding Nayeon’s reasoning. “She knows everything, so you shouldn’t have worried.”

“Everything?” 

“Yep.” Wheein said, pausing to down the rest of her drink. “But I appreciate you trying to be sensitive. I’m just sorry my Dad did that.”

Nayeon groaned. “Wheein-ah how many times do I have to remind you that nothing your Dad does is even remotely your responsibility? And anyway, my Dad didn’t respond as awfully as I thought he would. I’m just worried that your Dad’s going to tell the whole town and it’ll get out. I don’t want to be the cause for any more drama in your life.”  
Wheein sighed, disliking that she was finding herself right back where she was mere months ago, only now her Dad had not only wrongfully taken Yongsun’s money, but was now set out to ruin more than just her own life.  
“I don’t know what to do anymore,” Wheein frowned, gulping down the panic in her throat. “I don’t know what there’s left to do besides beat him to it.”

“Beat him to it? You mean…tell people before he gets the chance to?” Nayeon asked seriously, and Wheein shrugged helplessly. 

“My…friend made up a contract and paid him, but he just took the money and kept being awful anyway.”

“Your ‘friend’?” Nayeon asked, her eyebrows raising playfully, making Wheein shake her head and avoid her mischievous gaze. “Wait, what sort of contract?”

“I don’t know the legal terms, but he just signed and then disappeared with the money and-“

“He signed? Do you have the details of the contract?”

Wheein shook her head. “Why?”

“I…my husband’s a lawyer, he might be able to help.”

Wheein’s titled her head in a mix of shock and confusion, her eyes suddenly drawn to the flashy diamond on the girl’s left hand. “You’re married?”

“Yeah I’m a wife or whatever, that’s not the point. We might be able to solve your Daddy issues for good,” Nayeon said, unable to stop herself from laughing at her own choice of words. Wheein shook her head in both disbelief and embarrassment that the girl in front of her had somehow managed to make a joke in such a dire situation. But still, she found herself agreeing to let Nayeon try, agreeing to meet up again with the girl who had broken her heart years ago, allowing the woman to hug her goodbye with a promise to text her later. Out of all the scenarios Wheein had played over in her head for the past seven days, not once did the night end like this. 

**

Wheein reaches Yongsun’s apartment in no time, arms heavy with the bags she was carrying and ascending the steps with a tired yet excited grin. She hadn’t been able to spend any real quality time with the woman lately besides the rehearsals and concerts they’d been doing for the past week, and despite knowing she told the woman to rest, Wheein couldn’t fight the urge to visit her, especially after the weird night she’d had.  
Wheein reached the familiar hallway leading to Yong’s apartment, pushed the buttons on the keypad beside the door and pushed it open, not seeing the point of knocking first since the older woman always scolded her for being so polite. She slipped her shoes off at the door and was met with the dark hallway, a small glow from the tv in the living room luckily lighting her way as she made her way into the kitchen, setting the bags on the counter with a sigh. She’d be lying if she said she was disappointed that Yongsun hadn’t listened to her and gotten some rest, instead finding herself shaking her head at the woman’s stubborn nature. She scanned the empty kitchen and living room, about to call out for Yong when she heard the familiar sound of the woman talking to herself coming from her bedroom.

“You’re weird,” Wheein said with an amused grin as she leaned against the doorframe of Yong’s room, enjoying the startled sound Yong made, and the relief that washed over her once she realised who the intruder was. 

“Yah! I swear I’m going to have an actual heart attack one of these days,” Yongsun said, clutching her chest dramatically and breathing obnoxiously.

“A heart attack from being so happy to see me, right?” Wheein said, eyes wide and feigning innocence, paired with a wide, toothy grin which made her nose scrunch up. Yong shook her head in disbelief. 

“How can you make me both disgusted and enamoured at the same time?” 

“It’s one of my many talents,” Wheein said, walking over to where Yong was and hopping onto the woman’s bed happily. “Buy me one of these?”

“One of what?” Yong asked, sitting on the bed and looking down at Wheein. 

“These beds. I need one, it’s so comfy,” Wheein sighed, snuggling further into the covers and breathing in deeply, instantly feeling satisfaction wash over her body at the scent of freshly laundered sheets mixed subtly with something very familiarly Yong. 

“Move over,” Yong said, not waiting for the girl to move and shoving her over to the edge of the bed, then lying down next to her. Side by side, shoulders touching and staring up at the ceiling, both girls felt peaceful with each other, listening to their synchronised breathing. “How did it go with Nayeon?”

Wheein rolled onto her side, head propped up on her arm and looking down at Yong with an uneasy expression. “It was weird. I didn’t hate her like I thought I would,” Wheein admitted, using her free hand to brush the woman’s hair from her eyes. 

“Why do you seem nervous about that?” She reached up to smooth out the slight frown on Wheein’s face, running her thumb soothingly across her cheek, smiling when Wheein leaned further into her touch. 

“I’m not nervous, just confused I guess. It’s like all the shit she did back then melted away when I saw her, and I could only think about the good things.”

“The good things…like when you liked her?” Yong asked quietly, treading carefully in a way she hadn’t needed to before.

“I mean, a little. She was the same, I think that’s what caught me off-guard. I didn’t expect her to be like how she was before we got caught, y’know?” Wheein said. Yong nodded slowly. She was a unsure of what to think, of what Wheein meant, what to say. 

“Will you see her again?” Yong didn’t know where the plainness in her voice came from, her eyes stuck on Wheein’s face, like she was looking for something. When Wheein nodded her head, Yong gulped. 

“She thinks she might know a way to end this situation with my Dad once and for all, it’s good news right unnie?” Wheein said, scrunching up her nose in a way that made Yong’s heart ache. No matter what she was feeling, it was undeniable that Wheein would always find a way to make her feel something magic. “I want you to come with me next time, if that’s ok? I need to bring your contract too.”

“You want me to meet her?” Yong asked, feeling more at ease the more she watched Wheein’s features contort into eagerness and excitement. 

“Of course. I want you to be there for everything, especially since you’re the dummy who gave the idiot all that money,” Wheein said teasingly, punctuating her joke with a gentle kiss pressed against Yongsun’s cheek. “Thank you for trying, though,” Wheein whispered into Yong’s ear, making the girl squirm from the act.

“Don’t be cute,” Yong whined, draping an arm across Wheein’s stomach and pulling her closer despite her words. “Can’t you see I was trying to be jealous over here?” Yong said, words muffled as she spoke into Wheein’s chest. Wheein let out a loud laugh. 

“Jealous? Of what? Nayeon?” Wheein asked, Yong nodding against her chest once, her face hidden by a curtain of hair. “Yah, you think I would dare have thoughts of that nature about anyone other than my one and only leader?” Wheein knew she deserved the punch that landed on her arm for that one.

“Don’t make fun of me. You sounded like you wanted to marry her,” Yong said with a pout, and Wheein let out a sigh. 

“It’s not like that. I felt something when I saw her, but nothing close to how I feel about you. It was more like…like I was happy that I could look at her and know that she held no power over me anymore.”

“Promise? Promise you won’t marry her?” Yong asked, looking up at Wheein with a serious expression. Wheein held in the laugh threatening to escape at the sight of the woman’s puffy cheeks and pouting lips, instead choosing to cup the woman’s face in her hands and giving her a sweet, chaste kiss. 

“I promise I won’t marry her,” Wheein said with a smile. “I never knew you could be so clingy.”  
Yong shrugged, her boldness returning once more, and leaned up to give Wheein another kiss, this one much slower and careful, as if the woman was trying to lull her into a trance of staying with her forever. 

“I just like you a lot,” she said, pulling away slightly, her words vibrating against Wheein’s lips and making the younger girl crinkle her nose at the weird feeling. 

“Oh! You’re gonna like me even more now. Or less actually, since it’s probably all gone cold,” Wheein said, jumping off Yong’s bed and offering her hand to the woman who took it with a frown. “I brought food,” Wheein explained. “And yes, there’s tteokbokki, even though I wanted to die when I was ordering it. I swear your body is like 2% water and 98% tteokbokki at this point,” Wheein sighed, shaking her head. Yongsun only clung more tightly only Wheein’s arm and leaned up to plant a quick kiss on the girl’s cheek. 

“Wah, you’re the best,” Yong said, eyes lighting up at the sight of the bags on her kitchen counter. Wheein giggled. 

“I knew you wouldn’t listen to me when I told you to rest earlier, but for once I’m glad you didn’t,” Wheein said, pulling various containers from one of the bags and Yong laughed. 

“Why?” 

“Because maybe I might’ve missed you a tiny bit this past week,” Wheein mumbled and she felt Yong wrap her arms around her waist and rest her head on her shoulder. It was quiet apart from the hum of the microwave as it heated Yong’s food and Wheein let herself take in the calmness of the moment, of the dull thumping of Yong’s heart against her back, of the way the girl’s breathing matched her own, of the warmth of the woman’s body surrounding her. “Everything will be alright, won’t it?” 

Yongsun let out a content sigh at the hopefulness in Wheein’s voice. “Yes,” she said with a confidence that made her sound as though she held all the answers of the universe in that perfectly round head of hers. Yongsun turned the girl in her arms around to face her, placing a hand on each of Wheein’s shoulders and grinning softly, then leaning forward so their heads were touching, breath mingling, smiles matching. “Everything’s going to be alright, Wheeinie.” 

And just like that, the strange weight that had been sitting on Wheein’s chest began to lessen gradually, slowly, until it melted away into nothing and was replaced with something warmer, something familiar, something that felt a lot like hope and a little like…love?


	8. The Moment

Yongsun put the last of the bags in the back of the car and let out an accomplished sigh, turning back to face the three girls stood joking amongst themselves. “Yah, I thought this was supposed to be a short trip, Hyejin-ah. Why do you have like five bags?”

“They’re presents for people,” Hyejin said with a yawn, scratching her head nonchalantly, making Yong shake her head at the girl’s carefree nature.

“Ready to go?” Byul asked, receiving a nod from each of the women and making her way to the drivers’ seat. Hyejin got in the passenger side, feet already free of her shoes and crossed comfortably on the dashboard before Byul had even turned on the car.

“I don’t know why I agreed to let them come,” Wheein said with a fond shake of her head and slight chuckle, the sound of Byul trying to convince Hyejin to put her feet down unsuccessfully making Yong laugh along with her.

“Come on,” Yongsun said, dragging Wheein by the hand and into the car with a wide, excited smile. When Wheein had initially asked her to come with her to Jeonju so Nayeon’s husband could go over the contract, Yongsun had been excited, agreeing to the idea of a short getaway with the girl, a much-needed break from the back-to-back schedules they had been having lately. It was only when the others caught onto their plan when asking their manager why they had a few days off, that Yongsun realised her plan of a trip with Wheein would turn into a great big Mamamoo adventure.

“You can’t leave us behind, Unnie. Just because Wheein is your favourite now,” Byul had whined, adding a dramatic pout for effect, with Hyejin catching on quickly.

“Yeah! You can’t take my best friend away from me, and especially not to my hometown, without me!” Hyejin said, frowning as though she had been wronged in a way she had never been before, noting Yong’s shocked and uncertain expression, then giving her a playful smirk.

“Fine! Fine, you can come,” Yong relented, rolling her eyes in annoyance when Hyejin and Byul hi-fived in victory. “But you’re driving, Byul-ah. And you’re bringing food, Hyejin-ah. Oh, and you can tell Wheein yourselves,” Yongsun said firmly, making both of the women nod along in understanding.

It hadn’t ended up being the worst idea in the world, Yongsun decided, with her mouth full of the snacks Hyejin had brought and her head bopping to the playlist Byul had made especially for the trip. It also didn’t hurt that since she didn’t have to drive, she was free to look, touch and hold Wheein as much as she wanted. Although Wheein would argue that this wasn’t such a big bonus since the moment they even caught eachother’s eyes, groans and fake retching noises coming from the front seats ruined the moment completely.

“Yah! We weren’t even doing anything this time!” Wheein said after the hundredth time Hyejin had turned around to fake gag at the pair.

“You looked happy, it’s not fair,” Hyejin said simply, and Byul chuckled from the driver’s seat, glancing at Wheein pouting in the rear-view mirror, with Yongsun as oblivious to her surroundings as ever, staring out of the window with a content smile on her face.

“Just because you’re not getting any,” Wheein mumbled, but apparently it was still loud enough for the whole car to hear. And for Yongsun to see fit that Wheein deserved a light shove.

“Neither are you!” Yong said, her face flushed pink, earning a hearty (and somewhat evil) laugh from Hyejin.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side,” Wheein whispered, earning a nonchalant shrug from Yong who looked at her with a serious face.

“I’m on the side of truth, Wheein-ah,” She said, and Byul let out a sputtering laugh at the woman’s dead-pan response. Wheein pouted, embarrassed that she’d been called out, and more so that Hyejin and Byul know knew the extent of her current sex life, so turned her attention to her smug best friend.

“Anyway, how is Woogie-oppa lately, Hyejin-ah?” Wheein asked with a smirk, enjoying the scowl that Hyejin gave her, along with a middle finger thrown in her direction. Byul gasped, and Yongsun looked at the girl expectantly, knowing better than to pry like Wheein had.

“You’re seeing him again? After last time?” Byul asked, eyes flitting between the road and the passenger seat, surprise evident in her voice. Hyejin sighed.

“Kinda. He’s different this time, he really is. He’s even looking after Onsoon for me this weekend,” the girl said, a hint of dreaminess in her words that Wheein didn’t miss. Yong observed quietly, never knowing what to say when these kinds of topics came up in the group, and especially since it was Hyejin. Yongsun’s boldness with words had always seemed to clash with Hyejin’s soft and delicate nature, and the two had an unwritten agreement that they kept their opinions to themselves mostly. It didn’t mean that Yongsun didn’t care, though. In fact, she was the first one to request a day off and usher the other members to Hyejin’s house with chicken and wine the last time it went pear-shaped with Woogie, and it was that kind of gesture that meant Hyejin held Yongsun’s opinion to the highest regard, even if she didn’t share it often.

“Just because he looks after your tortoise, doesn’t mean we forgive him for hurting you,” Wheein said, crossing her arms.

“Uh, I think it does, Wheein-ah. If I forgave Yongsun-unnie, then you can forgive him,” Hyejin said, looking back to give Yongsun a soft smile, letting the woman know she held no grievances. Wheein opened her mouth to rebut the girl, but found herself lost for words.

“Wait why would you need to forgive Yongsun-unnie?” Byul frowned, and Yongsun shook her head, clapping once.

“It doesn’t matter, okay? And we’re not going to pass judgement on eachother’s personal lives unless there’s a reason to besides our personal feelings, yes?” Yong said, watching expectantly until all three women had nodded in agreement.

“Sorry,” Wheein said softly, leaning forward for Hyejin’s hand and smiling goofily when the girl pecked her palm.

“I’m sorry too, honey,” Hyejin said, squeezing Wheein’s hand once before letting go and turning her attention to the radio. “Can we put on my music now, unnie?”

Byul sighed. “I swear if it’s just the same five songs on repeat like last time, I will kill you, Hyejin-ah,” Byul said, and Hyejin reached forward to plug her phone in, feigning innocence from whatever Byul was trying to accuse her of.

“You okay?” Wheein asked quietly, drawing Yongsun’s attention away from the passing fields and buildings outside. The woman was so easily distracted. Yongsun nodded.

“I’m excited, I love getting out of Seoul,” Yongsun said, her smile pushing her cheeks up so high that her eyes were practically closed. Wheein scrunched her nose up at the sight, endeared by the woman’s ability to so quickly forgive and forget, and matched her smile with one of her own.

“Thanks for coming with me,” Wheein said, squeezing the woman’s thigh lightly and chuckling at the way she nodded with a gulp.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Yongsun said, leaning her head on Wheein’s shoulder and sighing contently.

“Oh unnie, I forgot to tell you that you’re sleeping on the floor tonight.” Hyejin’s words and the sound of Byul’s yells of refusal made the two women in the back burst out in laughter. So maybe they might not have gotten the serene road trip they’d first been excited for, but the wholeness they felt whenever they were together as a group made up for all of it, even if the curse words hurtling between the front seats made for quite appalling background music.

**

“So we’ll see you at the bar tomorrow night?” Byul confirmed, arm resting comfortably on the open window of her car. Wheein and Yongsun nodded, slinging their bags over their shoulders.

“You definitely remember the way, Hyejin-ah?” Wheein asked, and Hyejin waved her hand at the girl with a cocky smirk.

“They don’t call me Jeonju Girl for no reason,” She said, and Wheein rolled her eyes.

“No one calls you that, dummy. We’ll text you when everything’s finished tomorrow, okay?” Wheein said, waving the girls goodbye and laughing at Hyejin’s attempt to act shocked.

“Enjoy the floor tonight, Byul-ah,” Yong added with a mischievous glint in her eye, waving as Byul groaned and waved back half-heartedly, then drove away, the sound of Hyejin’s teasing laughter lingering behind for a moment.

Yongsun flashed Wheein a bright, excited smile, the same one she’d been wearing for the entirety of the car ride there, and nodded to the building before them.

“This is where you grew up?” Yongsun asked, and Wheein nodded, leading the girl to the front door and reaching under one of the sculptures her mother had crafted in the front garden, retrieving the door key and unlocking the door with ease.

“It was my grandmother’s house, my mom moved in after she passed. It’s weird seeing my mom here instead of my grandmother though, she didn’t really stay here much when I was a kid.” Wheein led Yongsun to the living room, gesturing for the girl to put down her bags and they both let out a sigh of relief. Yongsun looked around curiously, her eyes wide and interested, a stark difference from the soft and dozy look on Wheein’s face.

“Where’s your room?”

Wheein grabbed Yong’s hand and dragged her towards the door at the end of the hallway, giving her a bashful smile as she opened the door. “My grandmother was kind of obsessed with me…and I never had the heart to redecorate when she looked so happy showing it to me one day after school,” Wheein said, a hint of sadness lacing her words, making Yongsun squeeze her hand gently.

“You were such a model,” Yongsun said with an amused smile, head turning in all directions as she took in the various pictures of a young Wheein littering the walls, each one sitting in a fancy-looking frame. Various trophies sat on the shelves, some for spelling bees, others naming Wheein as class president and honour roll student, each one stretching Yong’s mouth into a wider smile. “Wah, I haven’t seen one of these in a long time,” Yongsun said, bending down to inspect the cassette player and various tapes stacked next to it. She clicked the play button, the sound of a ballad Yong didn’t recognise bouncing off the walls, the slight static crackling of the speakers making everything seem cosier somehow. “I like it,” Yongsun said with a nod, admiring the room with a spin, then settling on Wheein’s bed, the collection of thick knitted blankets feeling soft under Yong’s hands.

“My grandmother knitted these one winter when our heater broke,” Wheein said, chuckling softly at the memory as she joined Yongsun. “She used to wrap me up in like all six of them and call me her ‘sushi baby’,” Wheein said, and Yong let out a laugh, moving to sit up, pulling one of the blankets with her, determined to make the longing in Wheein’s voice disappear.

“Wanna be my ‘sushi baby’ now?” Yong asked, already covering Wheein with all the blankets she could find, moving to hover over Wheein to make the process easier, a leg settling on each side of the girl carefully. Wheein laughed loudly, tickled by the way the woman worked seriously, her tongue poking out of her mouth in determination. Wheein wriggled against Yong’s attack, unable to hold back her amusement.

“You’re gonna suffocate me under here, unnie,” Wheein laughed, and Yong paused, sitting comfortably on top of Wheein with her mouth wide open in shock.

“Yah, are you calling me heavy, Wheein-ah? Am I fat?” Yongsun said, poking Wheein all over, enjoying the way the laughter that left her lips was loud and free, her cheeks pink with the sudden attack.

“No, unnie. Stop!” Wheein whined through laughter, reaching for Yongsun’s hands and pulling on them so the woman fell forward. And yeah, it had definitely stopped the attack, but Wheein didn’t exactly intend for Yongsun’s chest to be pressed against her face, the woman’s loud heartbeat acting as a steady metronome to the music still humming through the room. Yong pushed herself up, brushing her hair from her face and looking down at Wheein with a dopey smile, face slightly red and eyes shining with something Wheein hadn’t seen before.

“Your parents aren’t home until tomorrow, right?” Yongsun asked softly, making Wheein gulp.

“They’re staying at my step-dad’s parents’ until tomorrow night,” Wheein said, hands playing with the beltloops on Yongsun’s jeans, eyes avoiding Yongsun’s gaze, suddenly shy at the suggestive question. Yongsun stopped Wheein’s movement, intwining her fingers with the younger girl’s and pulling her up. They had been close like this before, but that was early on, when Wheein feelings were laced with anxieties and insecurity, when Yongsun didn’t know what she wanted. Yongsun knew now, though. They both did.

“You really are pretty, Wheein-ah,” Yongsun said, linking her hands behind Wheein’s neck and pulling the girl in for a kiss, their smiles meeting gently and morphing into a slow, purposeful kiss in no time. Wheein sighed softly against Yongsun’s lips, her arms wrapping securely around Yongsun’s waist, pulling the girl in even closer. 

“You’re prettier,” Was all Wheein could manage to say in the small gap between kisses, the comment apparently amusing the older woman as she laughed into their kiss. It was infectious; the laughter and the feeling. Soon, both women had given up on the heated kiss and were instead clutching each other in fits of giggles.

“It’s still a little weird, don’t you think?” Yongsun said, swallowing in an effort to steady her erratic heart, brushing Wheein’s bangs out of her eyes and running her thumb over the girl’s cheek soothingly.

“A little. But it’s a good weird. It’s exciting,” Wheein said, leaning into the girl’s touch and rest her chin in the palm of the woman’s hand, smiling up at Yongsun goofily. Yongsun smirked.

“Exciting? In what way, Wheeinie?” Yongsun cooed, the mischief in her eyes and the slightly raised eyebrow making Wheein gasp and hit the girl’s shoulder.

“Unnie! You’re gross,” Wheein said, making Yong cackle in a way that was definitely not cute, but still made Wheein smile all the same.

“Yah you hit me so much these days, is that something you like doing too?” Yongsun asked, and Wheein buried her face into the woman’s chest with a whine.

“This is my childhood bedroom, and you’re making jokes like that?” Wheein asked exasperatedly, and Yongsun stroked the girl’s hair slowly, her laugh low and guilty.

“Fine, fine. I just thought that you were hinting at something earlier, in the car…” Yongsun said, her voice trailing off.

“When I was talking about ‘not getting any’?” Wheein asked, and Yongsun nodded. Wheein smiled, scrunching her nose up at the innocence now present on Yong’s face, her eyes soft and vulnerable. “I don’t care about that.” Wheein paused, correcting herself with a shake of her head. “Well, it’s not that I don’t care…just, if it happens, it happens, yeah?”

“Yeah. I like that,” Yongsun said, licking her lips and looking at Wheein’s; the way her lipstick was now smudged slightly made her heart skip proudly. She leaned forward, pecking the Wheein’s lips and enjoying the way the younger girl seems to chase her as she pulled away. Their eyes met and neither looked away, as if it were the first time they were seeing each other so clearly, so completely. Yongsun eventually broke the moment with a simple kiss pressed against Wheein’s cheek, then climbed down from where she had been straddling Wheein and stood up, stretching her arms out dramatically. “Can we go for a walk?”

Wheein frowned. “Now?” Wheein asked, glancing out of the window. The afternoon had turned dark, with big, grey clouds swimming in the sky, making everything look a little sad. Yongsun nodded.

“I wanna see the neighbourhood. Please? We don’t get to go out much like this, just us…” Yongsun’s eyes were big and pleading, her lips pushed out in a pout, and Wheein swore if there were other people around, she would have teased Yongsun to no end. But they were alone, and Wheein found herself going to her wardrobe and chucking a hoodie in Yong’s direction with an overdramatic eyeroll.

“It’s gonna be cold,” Wheein said, unable to hide her grin as Yong pulled on the old hoodie, never having thought she would ever see the woman wearing the logo of her middle school choir, and thanking her old music teacher for getting the sizing wrong and ordering everyone a large size all those years ago. If it weren’t for that, Wheein wouldn’t be biting her lip at the sight of Yong’s hands disappearing into the sleeves, or reaching for her non-existent hand and pulling her close, smiling at her like she was wearing the most attractive outfit ever. “Do I need to bring treats with me?”

“Huh?” Yong’s confusion was evident in her deep frown and Wheein laughed.

“I thought you usually take treats when you walk your dog,” Wheein said innocently, and Yongsun’s mouth hung open in shock, pushing Wheein away from her and crossing her arms.

“I’m not your dog, Jung Wheein,” Yongsun said, and Wheein rolled her eyes, enjoying teasing the woman a little too much.

“Come on dummy, let’s go,” Wheein said, dragging the woman out of the room and towards the door. Yongsun planted her feet firmly on the ground, making Wheein laugh loudly. “Fine, I’m sorry. Okay?” Wheein relented, her aegyo creeping into her words and making the corners of Yongsun’s mouth turn up. “Forgive me?” Wheein’s exaggerated pout and the way her head nudged against Yongsun’s seemed to do the trick, the older woman letting out a sigh of defeat and kissing the girl’s forehead sweetly.

“And you call me the puppy,” Yongsun mumbled as she linked her fingers with Wheein’s and opened the front door, the cold wind hitting them instantly. Wheein whined, pulling her hood over her head and turning to do the same for Yongsun, cooing at the way the older woman’s round head resembled the moon.

The pair made their way out into the cool night, clinging to each other both for warmth and comfort. They walked quietly for a while, stopping every now and then when Yongsun would point at a random building and ask what it was with a smile on her face that Wheein found hard to deny. It was nice, Wheein decided, letting herself become filled with everything that could make her happy in that moment; she was home, she was going to fix things, she was walking around her old neighbourhood with the girl who made her feel like she was worth more than the stars themselves, and she somehow knew that everything would be easier from now on. Wheein’s smile was bright in a way that made everything in Yongsun’s body melt. Crossing the road arm in arm, illuminated by the soft orange glow of the streetlights above them and with the beginnings of a rain shower wetting their faces in a dewy mask, Yongsun pulled the girl to a stop.

“You’re smiling really big.” It was a simple observation, but Yongsun needed to share it, wanted to acknowledge the girl’s happiness in public as though it would make it last longer. Wheein shook her head in embarrassment, her lips still stretched wide and teeth on full show. Yongsun wanted to tell Wheein that she loved her teeth, loved that they weren’t perfect and that the girl had never wanted to fix them, for good reason. But she didn’t tell her, deciding that such compliments could be saved for other days, ones that weren’t as electric and addicting as this one. “Why?” Was all she said instead.

“You.” Wheein ducked her head, but her eyes didn’t leave Yongsun’s, not wanting to miss the woman realise how important she was. A car drove past them, right through a puddle neither one of the women had noticed, the action soaking the girls’ feet and making them jump, but not once did their eyes break contact. Wheein only moved closer to the woman, reaching up on her tip toes to pull Yongsun’s fallen hood back over her already damp hair.

“Yah, Wheein-ah,” Yongsun said, and although it sounded like it was intended to be teasing, the softness of the woman’s words made Wheein’s hand falter, heart skip. She licked her lips, tasting the rain. “I love you.” It was bold, said with a surrendering shake of her head, as though Yongsun had just realised that what she was feeling was inescapable, was something that she needed to share, something she wanted to be theirs.

Wheein’s face softened, pink and red flushing through her cheeks and eyes beginning to burn alongside her heart. She thought of the people before Yong, the ones who had said those words fleetingly, those who had never proven it, the ones who had sworn by it but acted against it. She knew it was different now, knew that the girl standing in the rain, in her clothes, in her neighbourhood which hadn’t felt like home in a long time, was a complete anomaly. She was someone whose entire existence didn’t make sense to her when they’d first met, but now she couldn’t imagine not knowing what every look, every word, every movement really meant.

“You’re crying,” Yongsun said, a cold hand coming up to wipe under Wheein’s eye gently. Wheein laughed, something light and free, and she couldn’t help but wrap her arms around the woman and squeeze tightly, as though she wanted to be as close to her heart as possible. She pulled away after a minute, the rain having soaked through them both completely, everything damp and a little cold, but nothing able to ruin Wheein’s mood.

“I love you too. I really do,” Wheein said finally, and it was Yong’s turn to smile now, her cheeks pushed up and making her eyes crinkle in the sweetest way.

“Wait,” Yongsun said suddenly, pulling away from Wheein to reach into her pocket, pulling out a polaroid camera and not waiting for Wheein to realise what she was doing as she pointed the camera at the girl before her, and the flash of the camera made Wheein blink rapidly, disoriented.

“When did you even grab that…”

Yongsun ignored Wheein’s question, saving the photo and snapping another, this time of the both of them, then returning the camera to her pocket. “I wanted to save it.”

Wheein sighed, shaking her head in fondness and leaning up to kiss Yongsun sweetly, enjoying the way Yongsun didn’t flinch at the contact, despite them being very much in public. “Shall we go home?”

Yongsun nodded, taking the girl’s hand in her own and pulling her along excitedly, the rain coming down harder and making both girls squeal at the onslaught. “Yah, why are you letting me lead the way? I don’t know where we are,” Yongsun laughed after a minute, squinting in the darkness as if it would help her see any better. Wheein sighed dreamily, her eyes playful and sparkling.

“I’d let you lead me anywhere, unnie,” Wheein said, cuddling into the girl and not minding that she was now shaking slightly from the cold, and Yongsun gasped.

“O-Oh my God,” Yongsun said, her dumbfounded expression making Wheein laugh as she pulled her along, wanting to be somewhere warm and dry now. “You’re gross,” Yongsun whined, following Wheein into the familiar-looking driveway of Wheein’s home. Wheein stopped, turning back and tucking her hair behind her ears, and flashed Yongsun a deeply unflattering smile, her cheeks full and her chin doubled.

“I’m not gross,” Wheein said, her voice contorted as she tried to kiss the woman’s face desperately, ignoring Yongsun’s squeals of protest.

“Yah, how am I in love with you?” Yongsun said loudly, and Wheein’s face softened, expression turning back to normal as she brought her hands up to soothe her aching cheeks, a fleeting laugh leaving her lips.

“Because I’m too cute not to love?” Wheein suggested, her hopeful expression and the way she was swaying slightly on the spot making Yongsun let out an endeared coo.

“Yeah, that must be it,” Yongsun smiled, nodding to the front door. “So are we just gonna stay out here and drown or shall we go inside and get warm and dry?”

Wheein frowned, acting as though she was deep in thought, an exaggerated pout making her portrayal all the more believable. “I don’t mind drowning with you,” She said after a beat, every muscle in her face morphing into an arrogant smirk.

“Jung Wheein,” Yongsun said softly, leaning forward and letting her lips brush against the girl’s ear, enjoying the way her delicate breaths made the girl shiver. “Shut the hell up, will you?”

So maybe it wasn’t the most romantic statement ever, or even a remotely polite one, but Wheein knew for certain that she was in love when she realised she wanted to see the lightness and playfulness in Yongsun’s eyes stay that way forever, even if it were at her expense. She knew it was love when instead of adhering to the woman’s words like she would have in past relationships by shutting up entirely, Wheein simply rolled her eyes and laughed and let the woman inside her home, giving her an old t-shirt to change into and not minding that her wet clothes were making her bed damp too. She knew it was love when Yongsun smiled at her when their eyes met in the bathroom mirror a few hours later, mouths spilling toothpaste foam all over sink and laughter pinching at their cheeks. She knew it was love when Yongsun whispered the words into kisses pressed softly against her skin, and everything felt safe and warm and adoring. Wheein let it all happen with an easy smile and reciprocated mumblings… and suddenly the world didn’t feel so unpredictable anymore.


	9. The Sanctuary

Throughout the entirety of Wheein and Yongsun’s newfound relationship, one thing Wheein refused to accept was the fact that Yong was a morning person. It had always been the same routine ever since they had begun sleeping over at eachother’s places; Yongsun would rise early, get out of bed with a completely ungracious yawn, and attempt to drag Wheein along with her. And each time, Wheein would groan and whine and bury herself further under the safety of the bed covers, waiting patiently until Yongsun’s retreating footsteps indicated her surrender.

Which is why, Wheein supposed, she was in such disbelief when she woke to find Yongsun still sound asleep beside her, one leg hanging off the side of the bed and an arm curled comfortably over Wheein’s stomach. She had never been a morning person, but maybe this was a side effect of last night’s events; maybe admitting to loving eachother had meant Yongsun could sleep with ease, and Wheein was, for once, excited to live as much of the day as possible.

“Why are you staring at me?” Alright, so maybe Wheein’s theory was short-lived when Yongsun frowned, eyes still closed as she stretched in big motions.

“Because you’re ugly,” Wheein deadpanned, and Yongsun let out a soft chuckle.

“Oh thank god you’re back to normal. I was expecting some lavish love poem about my beauty or something,” Yong yawned, cracking an eye open and pulling herself into Wheein so that her face was tucked under the girl’s rib, essentially trapping herself between the woman and her mattress.

“No, sorry. I’m saving those for my other girlfriends,” Wheein said, biting her lip in amusement and waiting for the inevitable assault from the other woman. Instead, Yongsun lifted her head, face still puffy from sleep and hair sticking out all over the place, and smiled goofily.

“I’m one of your girlfriends?”

Wheein laughed at that, one of those head-thrown-back, freeing kind of laughs which made Yongsun want to record it for her next ringtone. “I mention that I have many girlfriends I read love poems to and you focus on the fact that I referred to you as one of them?”

Yongsun nodded once, face serious. “I would like to be one please.”

“Oh my god, you’re so weird,” Wheein said, pulling the covers over her head to hide her blushing cheeks, not wanting to show Yong that she was embarrassed by the conversation.

“Hey,” Yongsun huffed, pulling at the covers. “What’s weird about wanting to be official with the girl I’m in love with?”

Wheein could hear the smile in Yongsun’s voice, the teasing way she looked at her when she’d pulled the covers off the girl making her struggle to fight a smile of her own. “Why do we do things so backward?”

Yongsun shrugged. “Because being normal is boring?”

Wheein nodded. “That must be it.”

“So…it’s a yes? We can be girlfriends?”

Wheein’s bottom lip jutted out at the innocence of Yong’s question, the hopefulness making her laugh teasingly. “Yes, we can be girlfriends,” Wheein said, a slight eye roll and shake of her head ignored by Yongsun when the woman stretched her arms above her head and let out a satisfied noise.

“Cool. So what’s for breakfast?”

**

“Stop laughing! I swear it didn’t look like this when I practiced at home,” Yongsun pouted, flipping over one of the misshapen pancakes with a huff while Wheein shook her head in amusement.

“You practiced? Aw unnie,” Wheein cooed, looping her arms around the woman’s waist from behind and resting her chin on the woman’s shoulder. She nuzzled her face into the woman’s cheek and planted a small, gentle kiss there. “I’m sure they’ll taste great.”

“Stop distracting me, I can’t focus when you’re being cute,” Yongsun said, shaking Wheein off her, the whine in her voice only serving to make Wheein squeeze tighter. The cassette player hummed out some 80’s indie song from Wheein’s bedroom, and paired with the freshness of the morning and the softness of the t-shirt Yong was wearing, Wheein couldn’t picture a more peaceful scene. And the constant groans and curses at the pancakes which had now stuck to the frying pan, were an added bonus Wheein supposed, because it was always endearing when Yongsun would try her hardest at something new.

“Unnie let’s just eat these ones, you don’t have to get it perfect,” Wheein said, a hand reaching over to still Yong’s which was holding another ladle of batter mix. Yong sighed, dropping the utensil back into the bowl and scrunching up her face at the sight of the uneven and oddly shaped stack of pancakes she’d cooked already.

“It’s annoying,” Yongsun said, huffing as she handed a plate to Wheein and resigned herself to sitting at the table and staring at the food with a pout. Wheein brought over the fruit she’d cut and set it on the table with the rest of the food, chuckling at the sight of Yongsun’s folded arms.

“It’s better like this, I don’t like round pancakes anyway,” Wheein said, taking one from the pile and covering it with honey, humming contently as she did so. Yongsun rolled her eyes, reaching for one too and taking a bite apprehensively.

“Wah…they’re actually good? Like really good?” Yong said, making Wheein choke on her pancake in disbelief.

“Uh…yeah they’re good unnie-“

“No like, I could sell these Wheein-ah! Just practice a bit more and they’ll be flying off the shelves. Maybe I should do a recipe video? So I can teach Yongwanims to-“

“Unnie! Please stop, they’re good but they’re not….they’re not that good,” Wheein said, her words muffled from the mouthful of watermelon and watching as Yongsun’s mouth hung open in fake shock, the hand brought up to cover it and wide, offended eyes making Wheein sputter, watermelon juice dripping from the corner of her mouth.

“I thought you were supposed to support me forever, Wheein-ah,” Yongsun said, twirling the pancake on the end of her fork in disappointment, Wheein laughing at the sight. The younger girl reached over, patting the sudden wannabe-chef’s hand pitifully.

“It just wasn’t meant to be, honey,” Wheein said, squeezing the woman’s hand and laughing embarrassedly. “Yah, why are we like this?”

Yongsun smiled smugly at that, swiping along the corner of Wheein’s mouth with her thumb and enjoying Wheein’s flustered state. “Because you love me.”

“Unnie that doesn’t explain why we’re so-“

“Because. You. Love. Me,” Yongsun said, eyes wide as though she was daring Wheein to challenge her.

Wheein rolled her eyes. “Because I love you,” she relented, watching the satisfied nod Yongsun gave with a fond smile. What a dork.

“Nice. Now can we get back to this lovely breakfast and stop with the dramatics for a second, Wheein-ah?” Yongsun replied seriously, spooning some fruit onto her plate, a slight smirk tugging at her lips from her own antics, amusement swimming in her eyes as she heard Wheein let out a breath in disbelief.

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive spending the rest of the day with you, let alone the rest of our lives.”

**

Between the emotional night before and the chaos of breakfast in the morning, Wheein supposed that she was due some bad news at some point, knowing that the usual rhythm of her life was one of complete happiness followed by some kind of low. Yongsun seemed to catch onto Wheein’s train of thought as they walked to meet Nayeon and her husband, turning to give Wheein a soft smile.

“Are you ok?” Yongsun asked, slowing her energetic pace to match Wheein’s, nudging the girl’s shoulder to bring her out of her thoughts. Wheein shrugged.

“Just tired of this being a thing, y’know? I’m hoping that Nayeon’s husband can figure out a way to end it for good,” Wheein said, letting out a small sigh. “Thank you for coming with me, though. I’m sure there are better things you could be doing.”

“Better than being with you? Not possible,” Yongsun hummed, her immediate answer making Wheein laugh.

“Yah, you’re too sweet these days. Hyejin and Byuli unnie are gonna tease us more than usual you if you keep it up,” Wheein said, rolling her eyes fondly when Yongsun simply shrugged in response and spun around as she walked, the morning sunlight kissing her skin in a way that made Wheein jealous of the sun. She wanted to be the reason for such a glow. “Are you ok over there?”

“Perfect. And excited to meet your ex,” Yong sing-songed from ahead, a mischievous glint in her eye that made Wheein want to take back everything nice she’d just thought about the woman.

“Oh my god shut up, unnie! You’re making me nervous,” Wheein whined.

“Shouldn’t I be the nervous one? I’ve never had competition before,” Yongsun said, folding her arms and smirking. Wheein didn’t find that surprising, knowing that most of the woman’s dating history consisted of a handful of men who pined after her and all ended with Yongsun getting bored and breaking their hearts.

“You don’t have competition, ok? I have a girlfriend!”

“You do? Well shit Wheein-ah, you could’ve told me before I went and fell for you,” Yongsun said, her mouth open dumbfoundedly. Wheein let out a scoff and grabbed the woman’s hand, pulling her along and trying to hide the smile tugging at her lips.

“You’re annoying.”

“So are you,” Yong said, tongue sticking out childishly as she let Wheein lead the way, her hand moving to hold Wheein’s, giving it a squeeze and revelling in the way Wheein held onto her more tightly.

“What’s gotten into you?” Wheein said, her question soft and laced with amusement.

Yongsun knew what had gotten into her. She knew that she was being overly greasy and annoying, and knew that it was necessary to ensure Wheein forgot about her worries and to keep her in this happy place they’d been able to bask in over the past few days. Yongsun wanted this to last forever, or at least for the rest of their time off; she hadn’t felt so relaxed and content in a long time, and she couldn’t bear the thought of Wheein’s father possibly ruining anything else for them.

“I don’t know, I think it must’ve been that amazing breakfast. I need to get the chef’s number, for real.”

“You’re insane,” Wheein said, turning a corner into the busier part of Jeonju Village and gently letting go of Yongsun’s hand to link arms instead. “But I’m not giving you her number, she’s more my type than yours, I promise.”

Yongsun huffed, lips jutting out in a playful pout as she squeezed Wheein’s arm, before letting her go when she noticed the amount of people around them, as though their safe, blissful bubble had just been popped with the sight of a stranger. Wheein nodded slightly, understanding Yong’s weariness and nudging the woman’s shoulder as they walked, a reassurance that everything was okay.

“I think the café’s on the next corner,” Wheein said, offering Yongsun one of those cheesy smiles, one that made her nose crinkle and cheeks push up over her eyes. Yongsun watched her, the woman’s sudden goofiness making her laugh, both of their nerves beginning to appear in unsure giggles and reddened cheeks. Yongsun took out her phone, typing a quick text and sliding it into her back pocket.

“Byuli and Hyejin-ah will meet us at the bar in two hours, so if you need an excuse to leave early, we can use them, okay?” Yongsun suggested, and Wheein nodded. “Or maybe I’ll use it when I see Nayeon even breathing around you…”

“Yah! Unnie you said you’d play nice,” Wheein whined, poking her shoulder childishly and Yongsun rolled her eyes fondly.

“Okay if my baby Wheeinie wants me to be nice then I will,” She cooed, pushing a finger into Wheein’s dimple and cackling when Wheein swatted her hand away.

“Thanks grandma,” She said back, eyes glinting happily with the way Yongsun frowned.

“Y’know it’s weird to call me that now I kiss you and stuff,” Yongsun said simply, then turned to enter the café, enjoying the sight of Wheein trying to gather her composure and close her mouth as she trailed after Yong like a scolded child. Yongsun really was surprising her more and more every day. It was strange to think she’d been without this harmlessly evil side of her unnie for so long, but she was grateful she was able to experience it now. It was freeing watching Yongsun being so completely comfortable around her. She watched the woman pull out her phone and hold it up, eyes flickering between the screen and the inside of the café.

“What are you doing?” Wheein asked.

“Trying to spot the devil,” Yongsun replied, pouting when Wheein hit her. “Okay okay, I’m looking for that woman and her husband,” She said.

“They’re not here yet,” Wheein said after looking around. “Where’d you get the photo of Nayeon anyway?” Wheein asked, gesturing to a quiet table in the corner and taking her jacket off, hanging it over the back of her chair and sitting down with a small sigh.

“Hyejin helped me stalk her, okay? She wanted to make fun of her husband and I…I wanted to put a face to the girl who hurt you. But she didn’t have horns or anything like I was expecting, she was just really pretty,” Yongsun admitted quietly, shutting her phone off and playing with the corners of the menu on the table, her fingers tapping lightly on the table to the rhythm of the soft music playing from a speaker above them.

“I just need her help with this, and then we can go back to getting on with everything else. You don’t have to like her, just try not to murder her today, okay? If it weren’t for you knowing what she did, I really think you’d get along, y’know,” Wheein said, squeezing Yongun’s hand and laughing when Yong stuck her tongue out playfully in response. “You’re so weird.”

“Oh it’s about to get a whole lot weirder now, honey,” Yongsun teased, nodding over to the couple entering the café and Wheein gulped, watching as Yongsun painted one of her sunniest smiles on her face as Nayeon and her husband made their way over to them. This is was going to be a whole new level of weird.

**

“What time did Wheein say they’re coming?” Byuli asked, passing a beer to Hyejin and taking a sip of her own.

“Twenty minutes, I think,” Hyejin said, eyes not moving from her phone, her thumbs tapping rapidly on the screen. Byul shook her head and let out a low chuckle, moving closer to the girl and trying to get a look at what she was typing. “Yah! You’re like a kid,” Hyejin whined when Byul deliberately moved so her head was blocking Hyejin’s line of sight, and Byul gasped scandalously.

“Ahn Hyejin, do you really think it’s appropriate to be paying attention to anyone other than me right now?” Byul asked, her hands finding home on her hips and face trying to remain serious. Hyejin rolled her eyes.

“You say that as if I haven’t been waiting on you hand and foot for the past twenty four hours, unnie,” Hyejin said with an eye roll. “And anyway, I’m just checking on my child okay, leave me alone,” Hyejin drawled, a pout pulling her lips forward and making Byul laugh, the older woman had never been able to stay serious around the maknae anyway.

“You’re so strong. I don’t know how you cope being a single mom,” Byul said solemnly, taking a slow sip of beer and watching Hyejin over the rim of her glass, eyes shining playfully. Hyejin nodded seriously.

“It’s hard being mom and dad, y’know. I’m just scared of him being teased by his friends at school, kids can be really mean, unnie.”

Byul let out a choked, sputtering laugh, struggling to swallow her beer as she nudged Hyejin with an annoyed groan. “Yah you’re always so much weirder than you let on. Worrying about your tortoise being bullied for having a single parent…you’re so cute,” Byuli cooed, pinching the girl’s cheek and enjoying the groan of disgust Hyejin let out, eyebrows pulled down into a deadly glare and Byul panicked, waving a napkin around in surrender and Hyejin nodded with a proud smirk, enjoying the power she always held over the other woman. As much as she would never admit it, she enjoyed being babied by her unnie, not many people treated her as delicately as Byuli did.

“Is it going well with Woogie?” Byuli asked, looking at Hyejin hopefully and enjoying the nervous disposition Hyejin always had when talking about anything involving love.

“He’s being really great. I’m not naïve like you all think, and I’m really making him work for it, for me to be back in his life that is. But he hasn’t done anything to make me doubt him yet. It’s nice,” Hyejin said, eyes avoiding Byul’s eager expression and settling on her beer, reaching over to take a long sip.

“We don’t think you’re naïve, Hyejin-ah. We just care about you and don’t want him to hurt you again,” Byul said, her bottom lip jutting outwards. “It’s nice you have someone like that,” Byul said, words sincere but followed with a long sigh, as she sat back and took another gulp of beer, her eyes distant as they traced the other people in the bar, now avoiding the burning of Hyejin’s stare on her reddening face.

“Unnie, what’s wrong?” Hyejin asked, setting her phone on the table and turning her body to face Moonbyul, thankful that they’d chosen to sit in the cosier, quieter section of the bar, the big pillows they were sitting on and candles surrounding them making both women feel more at home. Although it wasn’t enough to stop Byul from lowering her voice out of fear of prying ears.

“Nothing-I don’t know, actually….I think I’ve just been a bit lonely lately,” Byul said, her shoulders sagging, her teeth biting at the inside of her cheek. Hyejin tilted her head.

“Really? Why didn’t you say something?”

Byul shrugged. “I didn’t really realise it’s what I had been feeling until this weekend since we’ve spent so much time together. I think I’ve just been trying to get used to not having Yongsun-unnie around as much, y’know? And it’s great that you’re all finding happiness, I just need to focus on finding mine, I guess.”

Hyejin nodded, her foot tapping along absentmindedly to the hum of the bass of some song she didn’t know, while trying to collect her own feelings. “I know what you mean. It’s been weird not spending as much time with Wheein, too. I think I’ve just distracted myself with Onsoon and Jae-Wook oppa so I wouldn’t notice it as much. It’s strange, isn’t it?”

“Yongsun and Wheein-ah being together?” Byul asked, turning to Hyejin and sighing when she nodded. “It’s…It’s not something I ever thought of happening, but I think it’s just our job to let it happen and support them. As long as it doesn’t affect the group-“

“But it will eventually, wont it? If they stay together and someone finds out…or even if they break up…it’s gonna affect the group either way,” Hyejin said, her frown and concern making Byul feel on edge. She hadn’t thought about it in that way, had been so focussed on being supportive and encouraging of her bandmates that she hadn’t given a second thought to what it actually meant for their livelihoods. “I mean I love them both with all my heart, and their happiness comes first always. But we need to be realistic too, don’t we?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Byul said, the admittance hanging in the air. She took another long gulp of her beer. “What do we do, then?”

Hyejin shrugged, her nonchalance having always been something Byul had both envied and admired about the girl. “We just need to talk about it, I think. We could talk tonight? Maybe a few beers will make it less serious and we can all say what we’re really feeling without hurting anyone.”

Byul nodded. “How did you get so wise, kid?” She asked, ruffling the woman’s hair and Hyejin glared at her, before breaking into a warm, goofy smile.

“I think we’ve all just been changing a lot lately,” Hyejin explained, and Byul smiled, proud that the younger girl had this ability to say the right thing all the time.

“I’m excited for us all to spend time together without working tonight though, it’s gonna be-“

“Guys! Help!” The distinct sound of Wheein’s laughter made Hyejin and Byul both turn into the direction of the yelling, and sure enough Wheein came bounding up to their table and quickly flopped down to seat herself between the two women, safely behind the table.

“Wheein-ah what the-“

Byul stopped talking when heard a gasp from Hyejin next to her and squeal from Wheein, and looked up to find an out of breath and dishevelled-looking Yongsun shaking her head, one of her cheeks holding a bright red lipstick mark.

“Unnie…what happened?” Byul asked with a sputtering laugh and Yongsun just shook her head again and took a seat in front of the trio of her members, eyes fixed on Wheein’s face, the younger girl looking around the bar, eyes everywhere but on Yongsun.

“She wanted to race here. And convinced Nayeon that I-“

“I want a drink, do you want a drink Hyejin-ah? I’ll go and get a drink,” Wheein rambled, making a move to leave but Hyejin just held onto her arm and kept her in place.

“Convinced Nayeon what?”

“She convinced Nayeon that the reason I was being so quiet was because I’m a super shy person who wanted to be her friend so badly that I couldn’t talk. And then Nayeon ended up…” Yongsun gestured to the lipstick mark on her cheek and Wheein let out a sputtering laugh, her hand moving quick to cover it.

“Wheein-ah, why…?” Byul asked, turning back with a mixture of confusion and amusement as she watched the younger girl bury her face in her hands. Hyejin looked as equally confused.

“Because! It was really awkward and unnie was being boring and discussing legal things the whole time with Nayeon’s stupidly attractive husband and-“

“Aw sounds like someone was a little jealous, huh Wheeinie?” Hyejin smirked, nudging the girl whose mouth hung open dramatically.

“Yah it wasn’t like that! I just-I just was bored and Nayeon thought Yongsun-unnie hated her, which she kind of did, so I told her she didn’t, she was just shy shy shy,” Wheein said, trying with all her might to purse her lips and stop her laughter from escaping when was she met Yongsun’s eyeroll. Byul and Hyejin exchanged amused glances and Byul reached over to offer Yongsun a napkin, gesturing to the woman’s cheek and Yong took it with a pout.

“Are you two always like this when we’re not around?” Hyejin asked, raising a hand to beckon a waiter over with a smile. “Can we get another round of beers and two bottles of soju, please?”

“No, Wheein’s actually a lot more annoying usually,” Yongsun said, and Wheein scoffed, moving to join Yongsun on the other side of the table. Hyejin and Byul watched on as Wheein sidled up to Yongsun and mumbled some kind of apology laced with mischievous laughter. The waiter returned, taking away the few empty cans of beer Hyejin and Byul had drunk during their time waiting, and set down the various bottles and cans Hyejin had ordered.

“Yah, is there something we’re celebrating tonight?” Yongsun asked, eyes wide and telling of her low tolerance for alcohol. Hyejin shrugged.

“You tell me. Did the meeting go well?” Hyejin asked, and Wheein nodded slowly, turning to face her and moving to rest her crossed legs on top of Yongsun’s.

“He thinks he can find a loophole; he’s just got to get his boss to check the contract over before he does anything,” Wheein said with a soft sigh. “It’s not much but I think it might finally be coming to an end.”

The meekness of Wheein’s eyes made Hyejin’s heart ache, knowing instantly that the look was a result of her not wanting to get her own hopes up in case of them shattering just as quickly, just as they usually had. She reached a hand over to poke at Wheein’s cheek fondly. “We’ve got you, whatever happens, okay?” Hyejin said, noting Yongsun’s infatuated gaze set on her best friend. “And you too, unnie. Whatever happens, with both of you, we’re here.”

Yongsun nudged Wheein’s shoulder in a ‘told you so’ gesture and reached over to open a can of beer, passing it to Wheein and doing the same for herself. “No matter what?” She said, lifting her drink and prompting the other girls to do the same.

“No matter what,” they chanted in unison, clinking their beer cans together and following with loud laughter and teasing remarks to each other, their seriousness getting lost in old inside jokes and stories about the weekend which had quickly passed them by.

“Unnie…?” Hyejin asked after watching Yongsun do her third ‘love shot’ of soju with Wheein, her face contorted into smug grin. “Shouldn’t you be taking it easy if you’re meeting your future in-laws in the morning?”

Yong’s mouth hung open, face flushed a deep crimson and eyes boring into Wheein’s as she hit the girl’s shoulder in time with her words. “Yah! Wheein-ah! I knew there was a reason you kept blackmailing me into doing shots!”

“I’m just loosening you up, Unnie. If they start with low expectations and see you hungover and grumpy, then you’ll impress them more and more when you’re sober, right?”

Yongsun frowned, crossing her arms over her chest and bottom lip jutting out comically. “If I didn’t love you, I would really hate you,” she slurred slightly, earning a goofy smile from Wheein and gasps at the confession from Byul and Hyejin. And Wheein laughed, a continuous giggling sound that made the three women look at her with confused yet amused expressions. Maybe they didn’t understand it completely, the elation Wheein was feeling, or why exactly she was bent forward, hand covering her mouth to try and stop the laughter, when nothing very funny had happened. But they joined her anyway, a mixture of love, happiness, and relief (and plenty of alcohol) rushing through their veins and putting blushes in their cheeks. It was clear that everything was always lighter when they were together, this impenetrable bubble they’d managed to fashion for themselves long before they were known as Mamamoo continuing to shut out everything bad or worrying, allowing them to exist together as authentically as possible. And it would be like that forever, they just knew it. No matter what.


End file.
